Nova Scotia·NewLifeguards won’t be on duty at most Nova Scotia beaches on the Labour Day weekend. The Department of Natural Resources, Parks Canada and several municipalities contract lifeguards to provide supervision at beaches beginning in late June, but that coverage ended at most locations on Aug. 25.Friend of man who died in rip current at Melmerby Beach calls for more signage Luke Ettinger · CBC News · Posted: Aug 30, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 28 minutes agoA friend of a man who drowned at Melmerby Beach near New Glasgow, N.S., says warning signage at the beach is ‘weakly worded’ and red flags should be added when conditions are hazardous. Lifeguard supervision at most provincial beaches, including Melmerby, wrapped up this week for the season. (Sue Holle)Lifeguards won’t be on duty at most Nova Scotia beaches on the Labour Day weekend.The Department of Natural Resources, Parks Canada and several municipalities contract lifeguards to provide supervision at beaches beginning in late June, but that coverage ended at most locations on Aug. 25.”We have an issue. We don’t have a lot of staff,” said Paul D’Eon, the executive director of the Nova Scotia Lifeguard Service.”A lot of them have gone off to university, back to school and are moving, so we’re certainly limited by the amount of staff that we have.”Supervision continues at Lake Milo in Yarmouth County and Aylesford Lake in Kings County until 6 p.m. on Monday. At Lawrencetown Beach on the province’s Eastern Shore, lifeguards remain on duty this weekend and next. Melmerby drowning All other beaches will be unsupervised, including Melmerby Beach near New Glasgow, N.S., where a 60-year-old Ontario man drowned on Aug. 22. Paramedics and fire services responded to the scene at 4:30 p.m.With Hurricane Erin offshore, D’Eon said the storm created dangerous conditions such as increased surf and riptides.”Our North Shore beaches are particularly vulnerable to riptides because they don’t get surf very often and when they do, it creates bad currents.”Michaela Reid, a friend of the victim, said warning signage at the beach is “weakly worded” and red flags should be added when conditions are hazardous. Reid said an additional lifeguard station could improve response times at Melmerby.”If it’s going to be more serious like Erin, they should close the beach down or quadrant an area that’s acceptable or safe,” Reid said. “I am hoping maybe we can save someone else by making those improvements.” A statement from Rudee Gaudet, a spokesperson for Natural Resources, said there were warnings issued online about increased risks from Erin.”We posted a warning that swimming was not advised at coastal beaches [that evening]. Lifeguards were present at Melmerby beach between 10am and 6pm advising beachgoers to swim within the supervised area and water conditions for the day were posted.” D’Eon said the victim was 600 metres from the supervised area at the beach. “We certainly have signs there already. But we always look at as many interventions as we can and will be looking at all our sites, not just Melmerby, as to how we can make sure people are as safe as we can make them,” D’Eon said. ABOUT THE AUTHORLuke Ettinger is a reporter with CBC Nova Scotia based in Truro. Reach him at luke.ettinger@cbc.ca.
Lifeguard supervision wrapped up for season at most N.S. beaches
