Visual Representations

“What will the Vashon Kelp Forest look like at night?

To give residents a visualization of what the nighttime impact of the project would be, we waited for a particularly clear, calm night and sent two kayakers to the NE and SE corners of the project site.

Below in NIGHT VIEW 1: PHOTO is a representation from the shoreline on the Burma Road side of the Colvos Passage of two lights, each positioned on the kayaks, representing the latitude/longitude of the buoys that would be the closest points to shore (the NE and SE corners). The lights on the kayaks are actually brighter than the lights that the US Coast Guard will likely require to be installed (2 nautical miles range vs 1 nautical mile range), so this image overstates the brightness. We added red arrows to the photo to indicate the lights on kayaks (we attempted to get as close to the exact corner locations as possible, but that is not as easy it may sound, given decent currents at night).  

Note: If approved, the USCG is likely to require 8 white lights with a 1 nautical mile range that flash for 1 second every 6 seconds (ie they will flash about 9 times per minute). An example of flashing below.

The NIGHT VIEW 2: VIDEO shows what one flashing buoy light would look like. We strongly recommend viewing the video in full-screen mode to help locate the flashing light. Once you start the video, if you look in the middle of the screen at the 0:05 second mark and then every 5 - 6 seconds after, you will see a flashing light. That light is positioned on a kayak at the NE corner of the project site (the closest point to shore of any of the floating buoys by several hundred feet). As a reference point, on the upper left side of the screen, you can see the flashing lights from the existing radio tower on the Kitsap Peninsula (which seems to flash every 2 - 3 seconds).

This is not a perfect representation for a variety of reasons, including that this is one light and the USCG will require 8 flashing lights on the perimeter of the site and that this video shows a brighter light than what the USCG will likely require.

NIGHT VIEW 3: BUOY/LIGHT EXAMPLE

After consultation with authorities, we were able to determine another buoy that has similar characteristics (white light, approx. 1000 feet offshore, flashing on a six second cycle) is located off the east coast of Vashon. Below is a map of where it is located, where we took this video from, and the video. It is hard to make out the flashing buoy but you can see it flashing at the 00:08, 00:14 and 00:20 second marks.