Bones from a Stellar Sea Lion Travel from Pearson College to Telegraph Cove
Taking measurements of the stellar sea lion at Pearson College in 2019
Pearson College UWC is fueling the resurrection of the beloved Whale Interpretive Centre in Telegraph Cove, British Columbia, through a donation of a 7-year-old marine mammal skeleton. The Centre is rebuilding after a devastating fire destroyed their facility on New Year’s Eve, 2024, and the addition of the stellar sea lion helps restock the inventory.
Recovered near Race Rocks Ecological Reserve back in 2019, the carcass was initially a scientific and educational opportunity for the Pearson community. With authorization from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), the deceased mammal was towed to the Pearson dock.
“Half of our students were arriving at the College for the first time that day,” said Laura Verhegge Marine Science faculty member. “They had the very unusual and special experience of witnessing a sea lion necropsy as soon as they set foot on campus.”
After the marine science “surgery” the remains were suspended in garbage cans in Pedder Bay for a few months to let ocean organisms clean the carcass. The plan was to have students rebuild the skeleton.
“Then… COVID,” said Verhegge. “I never got my head back around to the rearticulation process, so the bones sat in boxes in the lab.”
Bones in boxes destined for new Whale Interpretive Centre
For 22 years, the Whale Interpretive Centre built its inventory of marine mammal skeletons into the largest public collection in BC. When word spread that a rebuild was underway, Pearson’s stellar sea lion traded its boxes for a new home on the north island. Other donations have been pouring in, and the Centre aims to reopen sometime this Spring. It’s 450 kilometres from Pearson College to the “new” Whale Interpretive Centre in Telegraph Cove – 130 nautical miles if you’re a stellar sea lion – and together, the two institutions continue to advance marine science and conservation education on the West Coast of Canada.
Learn more about The Whale Interpretive Centre