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Guards to be posted at Basin Head to prevent jumps and dives

A short-term ban on jumping and diving into the channel at Basin Head Provincial Park, to let dredging take place, has turned into a season-long prohibition. 

Water too shallow, P.E.I. government warns

CBC News ·
Jumping from the bridge or wharf at Basin Head has never been condoned by the province, but now security guards will be posted to prevent it for the rest of the 2020 season. (Sara Fraser/CBC)

A short-term ban on jumping and diving into the channel at Basin Head Provincial Park has turned into a season-long prohibition. 

Starting Friday, security guards will be stationed at the popular Basin Head wharf and bridge to inform beachgoers of the ban, said provincial lifeguard co-ordinator Matt Smith.

Smith said they have been monitoring water levels and have seen it as low as one metre in some areas during low tide.

"Any time somebody's jumping off of a height into water there's risks of broken ankles, broken legs if they're jumping feet first or if they're going head first there's potential to result in a spinal injury or a head injury," he said.

Matt Smith, P.E.I.'s provincial lifeguard co-ordinator, says there is serious risk of injury from jumping into shallow water. (Ken Linton/CBC)

Prominent signs already warn swimmers about jumping and diving into the water at Basin Head, but are routinely ignored. Smith said they will now be stepping up enforcement.

"The approach we've used in the past is we've been educating patrons about the dangers, we've been posting our signage but now with the changes in the depth we feel there is such an increase in risk to beachgoers that we're moving forward in our prevention approach."

Dredged in June

In a news release Wednesday, the province said dredging was done to correct the channel at Basin Head in late June, but it had become shallow again.

A Department of Transportation, Infrastructure and Energy spokesperson later told CBC News: "Basin Head is a very active system and the dynamics involved are very complex, making it very difficult to model or even guess what might or might not happen. We're trying to adjust Mother Nature's plans. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't."

The water is as shallow as one metre in some parts of the channel during low tide, lifeguards say. (Ken Linton/CBC)

The jumping and diving ban takes effect immediately and will stay in effect for the duration of the 2020 summer season.

Basin Head consistently appears on lists of the best beaches on Prince Edward Island. As well as the channel leading from the harbour to the open ocean, it boasts "singing sands" and is located next to the Basin Head Fisheries Museum, situated on a nearby bluff. 

More from CBC P.E.I.

With files from Shane Ross and Tony Davis

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