Media Releases and Opportunities

Peggy’s Cove is one of Canada's most iconic sites, with its distinct red and white lighthouse and rugged coastline drawing roughly 800,000 visitors every year.

It is also a place that carries certain risks due to high waves that have swept people off the rocks, leading to multiple drownings in recent years. Signs along the shoreline warn of the danger of rogue waves and high swells, but some still venture too close to the rock edge.

To help save those who get washed out to sea, a group of Dalhousie University students has developed a device that can keep them afloat until they can be rescued.

The Engineering students designed and built a tubular launching device that will shoot an inflatable life-jacket to the victim within that critical initial 60 seconds after they fall in.

The red launcher uses compressed air to fire the projectile into the ocean. It can travel 100 feet through high force winds and features CO2 cannisters that can inflate a life-jacket, which is tethered to the launcher by a plastic safety rope, allowing bystanders onshore to pull the victim to safety.

Team members Willem Glozanski, Zach Gould, Liam Carson and Tanner Duplessis are available to discuss the prototype and how they would like to see launchers and projectiles eventually installed along the Peggy’s Cove coastline to help prevent drownings.

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Please see photos of team members and the device at Peggy's Cove here.
Credit: Mackenzie Streb and Willem Glozanski.

Media contact:

Alison Auld
Senior Research Reporter
Communications, Marketing and Creative Services
Dalhousie University
Cell: 1-902-220-0491
Email: alison.auld@dal.ca