Kincardine, Ont., to unveil Canada's first Smart Beach Light

The light colour is based off weather conditions and data from offshore buoys

A Bruce County community says it plans to launch Canada's first real-time beach safety signal that will help swimmers better understand hazards in the waters of Lake Huron.

The Municipality of Kincardine says its Smart Beach Light will provide visitors to Station Beach with current swimming information throughout the summer. The initiative is part of Kincardine's Smart Beach program, which aims to improve waterfront safety through data, technology and public education.

"It's basically a traffic light," said Kincardine's community emergency management coordinator Shane Watson. "It's for anyone who comes to the beach to look at the light and then make an informed decision based on whatever their abilities are."

The system works by collecting data from offshore buoys, and by continuously analyzing weather conditions. The hazard levels are based on a combination of wind, waves and current conditions, and updated based on real-time information.

Red warns swimmers to exercise extreme caution, yellow means increased caution and green means hazards are low.

The pilot project is the result of a collaboration between Kincardine, SwimSmart Technology and the University of Waterloo. If successful, Watson said, the project will be broadened down the shore and to other main beaches in the area.

Conditions on Lake Huron can change 'rapidly'

"Unfortunately we've had drownings on our waters," said Watson. "Conditions can change quite rapidly. Quite often we get a storm system that comes over from the United States and you can see the system actually coming over the lake. And before the system even gets to our shores, we could have storm surges, wave changes."

On Wednesday, provincial police announced they had recovered the body of a rafter who had been missing for roughly two weeks in the waters of Lake Huron. That person has been identified as a 22-year-old from Nepal.

The search for the victim began on May 18, when five people were spotted offshore near Pinery Provincial Park, apparently in distress, on a raft. At the time, police said two people managed to swim safely back to shore, while two others returned to the raft and the fifth remained missing. They were found on May 29 along the shoreline near Port Franks on May 29.

The tragedy occurred only weeks after a 53-year-old man from Norfolk County and his seven-year-old son were found dead in the waters of Lake Erie, southeast of London near St. Williams.

"The main message of our lights is to check them then decide," said Watson, "so each person has to make that informed decision for themselves based on what the lights are saying."

Following a testing and calibration period, the Smart Beach Light will become fully operational on June 12 after a ribbon cutting ceremony.