According to D'Entremont, although about 75% of lighthouses are still operating as "navigational aids" in the United States, federal funding is now almost exclusively limited to the mechanical maintenance of the lights.  "This leaves little or nothing for upkeep of the buildings themselves," he said. Without the support of local groups or the backing of a private buyer, he added, many lighthouses are "just left to rot."  The ardent pharologist, who until recently was responsible for compiling an ongoing database of lighthouses worldwide, estimates there are a total of 10,000 to 12,000 in existence.  But nearly all of them face the same problem. "Since the global financial crisis, it's obvious that there's less and less money for the preservation of historic buildings," he said.  Peter Williams is the treasurer of the World Lighthouse Society. "Long gone are the days of the diligent lighthouse keeper, tending personally to the light and keeping the tower in order," he said.  In Britain, an island whose coastline is peppered with hundreds of lighthouses, the last keeper retired in 1998. Now, according to Williams, all British lighthouses are fully automated and monitored from a few central offices. "They even have self-changing bulbs," he said.  But both Williams and D'Entremont concede that it is difficult to justify ongoing investment in lighthouses, now that their once vital function at sea is being rapidly replaced by new technology.  That may be the case, but lighthouses still "have enormous cultural and historical value," argues Gary Sredzienski, a musician from New Hampshire who aims to swim four miles in freezing water this month to raise money for his two local lighthouses.  "They are incredible feats of engineering, as well as objects of enduring beauty that connect us to our past -- especially for someone like me who comes from a fishing community," he added.
For centuries lighthouses have shone a friendly beam for sailors, fishermen and ferry passengers alike, steadily providing safe passage ashore and capturing a special place in the public