INSIDE

Lifeforce looking for some first aid

Lifeforce founder Peter Hamilton is looking at his 13th summer as the Point Roberts orca-guy, and wondering if it’s the hapless number that’s ushering in tough times.

Hamilton is a fixture at Lighthouse Marine Park; peering out at the water from his white Lifeforce van, updating the park’s Orca Center with educational material on resident and transient orca populations, or answering the perennial question, “when are the whales coming by?” It’s a question he usually knows the answer to, after decades of studying and monitoring marine mammals in local waters.

The Lifeforce boat is also well-known out on the water, where Hamilton hands out whale watching guidelines he developed, studies the interaction of marine mammals and boats, and responds 24-hours-a-day to marine wildlife emergencies.

The catch is Hamilton tends to spend all his time doing those things, and very little fundraising. Lifeforce has become something of a one-man show over the years, with only the occasional volunteer to help Hamilton gather data, raise funds or recruit other to help with the non-profit foundation’s long menu of programs. “I have been looking for someone to help with fundraising and bookkeeping,” he said ruefully.
While those activities have lapsed, Hamilton has dug through personal savings, and this year, he said, the well is dry. The Lifeforce boat has been put up for sale, so the organization can avoid defaulting on a $28,000 loan. “No boat, no program,” Hamilton said.

Even if the boat is sold and he can obtain a less expensive one to get him out on the water, it will limit his wildlife rescue, study and public education efforts. Furthermore, without at least $10,000 to pay for operating expenses Hamilton, who works winters to volunteer for Lifeforce in the summers, says he can no longer afford to take up the slack.

The Lifeforce Orca Trails program, which alerts members to the orcas passing their location, and the Lifewatch whale and marine mammal monitoring programs will not run this summer, Hamilton said, unless he can secure funding for them through donations. He will continue his wildlife rescue efforts and will update the Lighthouse Marine Park orca center display, but “the guy in the white in the white van can’t provide info about when the whales will pass by, whale cards or other marine biology info.”

Lighthouse park manager Ben VanBuskirk said Lifeforce has been a valuable resource for the park. “For the past 10 years, Peter Hamilton has made himself available to help our community with a wide range of services,” he said in a letter supporting Lifeforce fundraising efforts.

“Whenever we have sick or injured wildlife including injured seals and birds, Peter provides the care the animals need, even if it involves Peter taking the injured animal across the Strait of Georgia to a wildlife rehabilitation center. Peter also does a great job letting people know what not to do when you see baby seals or other animals that people come in contact with.”

If this year proves Lifeforce can’t survive as a publicly supported non-profit ecological organization, Hamilton said he will start charging for what he’s always given for free, starting up small-scale ecotours and taking out groups of less than half a dozen to learn about the local marine ecosystem. “They pay and the Lifeforce programs can continue,” he said.

To learn more about Lifeforce, contribute or volunteer, visit them on the internet at http://www.lifeforcefoundation.org/ or call 604/NOWHOPE (604/669-4673).