British Columbia Lightstation Sea-Surface Temperature and Salinity Data (Pacific), 1914-present

Daily sea surface temperature and salinity observations have been carried out at several locations on the coast of British Columbia since the early part of the 20th century. Observations started at the Pacific Biological Station (Departure Bay) in 1914; 11 stations were added in the mid-1930s and several more in the 1960s. The number of stations reporting at any given time has varied as sampling has been discontinued at some stations and started or resumed at others. Presently termed the British Columbia Shore Station Oceanographic Program (BCSOP), there are 12 active participating stations. Most of the stations are at lighthouses staffed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, but three (Race Rocks, Amphitrite Point, and Active Pass) are sampled by contracted observers. Observations are made daily using seawater collected in a bucket lowered into the surface water at or near the daytime high tide. This sampling method was designed long ago by Dr. John P. Tully and has not been changed in the interests of a homogeneous data set. This means, for example, that if an observer starts sampling one day at 6 a.m., and continues to sample at the daytime high tide on the second day the sample…

Publisher

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Resources

10

Catalogue metadata updated

2026-05-12