Bamfield is a community that is surrounded by

Crown Land Crown land, also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. Today, in Commonwealth realm ...

, First Nation Lands belonging to the Huu-ay-aht Nations, and portions of the

Pacific Rim National Park Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is a National Parks of Canada, national park located in British Columbia, Canada, which comprises three separate regions: Long Beach (British Columbia), Long Beach, the Broken Group Islands, and the West Coast ...

, located on Barkley Sound,

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada. The community, with a population of 179 as of 2016,Population of Bamfield
2016 Census data. is divided by Bamfield Inlet.

History

Bamfield was populated by Huu-ay-aht of the

Nuu-chah-nulth The Nuu-chah-nulth ( ; ), also formerly referred to as the Nootka, Nutka, Aht, Nuuchahnulth or Tahkaht, are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast in Canada. The term Nuu-chah-nulth is used to describe fifteen related tri ...

, the local Indigenous people. Europeans founded a small fishing community sometime in the late 1800s. Most of the Indigenous people now live in the neighbouring village of Anacla about 5 kilometres from Bamfield. Bamfield was named after the first government agent of the area, William Eddy Banfield. The name "Bamfield" with an "m" is said to have occurred either because of how the Huu-ay-aht had pronounced the agent's name, or it was a mistake made by the postal organization. In 1902, the Bamfield cable station was constructed as the western terminus of a worldwide undersea

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

cable called the

All Red Line The All Red Line was a system of electrical telegraphs that linked much of the British Empire. It was inaugurated on 31 October 1902. The informal name derives from the common practice of colouring the territory of the British Empire red or p ...

by some, as it passed only through countries and territories controlled by the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

, which were coloured red on maps of the time. The cable initially went to

Fanning Island Tabuaeran, also known as Fanning Island, is an atoll that is part of the Line Islands of the central Pacific Ocean and part of the island nation of Kiribati. The land area is , and the population in 2015 was 2,315. The maximum elevation is abou ...

, a tiny coral atoll in the mid-Pacific, and from there continued to

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. On May 16, 1915, American newspapers reported that an enemy Demo team had tried to land at Bamfield but was scared off by the military guards. A second building, made of concrete, was built on the site in 1926 to replace the old wood structure. This building, designated a historic site in 1930, is now used by the

Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre (formerly the Bamfield Marine Station) is a Marine (ocean), marine research station established in 1972, located in Bamfield, British Columbia, Bamfield, Barkley Sound, British Columbia and run by the University ...

. During the early years of World War II, Cable & Wireless' cable station was shelled by an Imperial Japanese Navy submarine from nearby Barkley Sound without any major damage being inflicted, however the Canadian Government arranged for a company of troops to be based there until the end of that conflict. A Marine and Fisheries lifesaving station on the Pacific coast was established at Bamfield in 1907. It was the first lifesaving station on Canada's Pacific Coast. In 1953 the cable was extended up the Alberni Inlet to

Port Alberni Port Alberni () is a city located on Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The city lies within the Alberni Valley at the head of the Alberni Inlet, Vancouver Island's longest inlet. Port Alberni currently has a total popu ...

and the local station was closed on June 20, 1959. Following the closure, only the large concrete building, two cable storage tanks and an adjacent building survived, as all the rest were demolished. In 1968, the National Research Council asked five western Canadian universities (University of British Columbia, University of Victoria, University of Calgary, University of Alberta and Simon Fraser University) to propose the best location for a marine biology station on the Pacific Coast. Although Victoria was the earlier winner, a feasibility study tendered in 1969 recommended Bamfield as the better location. The former cable station property was purchased in 1969 and a formal structure for the management and development of the station was created in 1970 when the five universities ratified a Constitution and joined the Western Canadian Universities Marine Biological Society. In 1971, development began to convert the site into a research station. With most of the physical facilities completed, the

began operations by the end of 1972. It became the largest employer in the community since. Commercial fishing was based in Bamfield up to the mid-1980s. Bamfield is now home to several sport fishing lodges, which pursue primarily

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

and

halibut Halibut is the common name for three species of flatfish in the family of right-eye flounders. In some regions, and less commonly, other species of large flatfish are also referred to as halibut. The word is derived from ''haly'' (holy) and ...

. Bamfield is also the northern terminus of the West Coast Trail, a hiking trail built in 1907 along the west coast of

to help survivors of the area's many

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately thre ...

s find their way back to civilization. The trail runs along extremely rugged terrain. Today Bamfield is primarily a tourist destination, either for the West Coast Trail, ocean kayaking or sport fishing. The research activities at the

attracts hundreds of researchers every year. The Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre also offers credited university courses through its five associated universities. An out reach program, which provides multi-day immersion field trips for school, college and adult learners, also bring thousands of visitors to the community every year. The town is featured in the first episode of

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

's 2015 comedy/reality series '' Still Standing''."Murdoch Mysteries’ Jonny Harris hosts new show Still Standing"
. canada.com, June 22, 2015.

Climate

Bamfield experiences an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

Gallery

File:CCG motor lifeboat, 1907.jpg, The motor lifeboat stationed at Bamfield in 1907 File:Bamfield.jpg, Bamfield dock File:Princess Norah (steamship) at Bamfield, 1929.jpg, SS Princess Norah at Bamfield, 1929 File:Frances Barkley at Bamfield 6.jpg, MV Frances Barkley stopping in Bamfield, 2016

References

External links

Bamfield Chamber of Commerce
{{Authority control Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia Designated places in British Columbia Populated places in the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District Barkley Sound region