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Old 05-19-2015, 07:56 PM   #11
MurrayM
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City: Kitimat, North Coast BC
Vessel Name: Badger
Vessel Model: 30' Sundowner Tug
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 5,946
We had an 'otherworldly' deadhead experience last time out on our boat.

We were about 7 miles south of Kitimat, which is at the head of Douglas Channel, about 60 miles from Hecate Straight through a complex series of channels and islands. We saw a deadhead in calm water roughly 1/4 mile ahead of us...it was the kind which stands vertically in the water column. It looked to be a really old one, because the end sticking out of the water was well rounded by bashing around on rocks, and appeared to be about 1.5 to 2 feet in diameter.

Something seemed weird about it, so I gave it a good long look with the binoculars but couldn't see much detail as it was back lit. I changed course a bit to avoid it, but disregarded it as anything interesting other than something to keep tabs on until we had passed it.

When we were a couple hundred feet from it, it rose straight out of the water about 2 more feet, then sank straight down and disappeared! As it sank, it rotated slightly and I could see a prominent 'bump-bump' on its profile.

What the...!!!

All my instincts said Elephant Seal, but this is a long way from their usual habitat, and nobody I know around here has ever seen one this far from open water. Enter our friend google. There has been a sailboat doing transects of Hecate Straight and north coast BC waters for years doing observational studies of marine mammals, and Elephant Seals are one species they have been keeping numbers on. They have seen one at Kitsaway Anchorage, which is pretty close to Jesse Falls where we had our encounter.

So, next time you see a deadhead standing vertically in the water, take a closer look!

http://raincoast.org/files/WAS_repor...aps_WAS_ES.png
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