The West Light on Sable Island was first established in 1873, and since then it has been moved and rebuilt several times - the present structure was built in the 1980s. It is a 26 m high skeleton tower, with two red and white rectangular daymarks on its north and south sides. A “daymark” is a distinctive pattern painted on, or attached to, the exterior of a lighthouse, which can be used by mariners to fix position during daytime navigation. The light itself is 32 m above sea level.