April 13, 2010 - 5:03am
Scia'new
(Beecher Band) First Nations have generously facilitated the future exhibit of
a grey whale skeleton at Vancouver Island University’s Deep Bay Field
Station.
The
skeleton comes from a young malnourished grey whale approximately 10 metres in
length that washed up on the shore of East Sooke Park in a windstorm April 2.
“The
preparation of the skeleton will provide an incredible learning opportunity for
students involved in the process,” said Brian Kingzett, Field Station Manager
at VIU’s Centre for Shellfish Research. “Once on public display, this whale’s
legacy will be to help educate and inspire about coastal species for decades to
come.”
The
whale’s skeleton will be preserved thanks to a co-operative approach involving Scia'new
First Nations, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), VIU and volunteers who were
involved in towing the carcass to a remote part of the First Nations land and
burying it at a sacred site.
Scia'new
First Nations had the whale buried on their land after concerns were raised that
some of the sightseers who came to see the carcass were showing disrespect for
the whale including removing flesh and baleen for souvenirs. The carcass was
also beginning to decay and posed a potential health hazard.
Scia'new
First Nations member Sharon Cooper initiated the effort to have the whale’s
carcass handled with dignity. Fisheries and Oceans Canada was contacted about
potential ways to move the whale. Paul Cottrell, Acting Marine Mammal
Coordinator for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, then approached VIU about the
prospect of the university becoming involved.
VIU’s
Centre for Shellfish Research had previously indicated to Fisheries and Oceans
Canada that if a grey whale skeleton became available the university would be
interested in exhibiting it at the Deep Bay Field Station for educational and
research purposes.
”While
the applied research focus of the Deep Bay Field Station is on shellfish issues
we will have a larger role in marine education,” Kingzett said.
With
leadership being shown by Scia'new First Nations, all parties met on April 9 and
made a plan to remove the whale from the beach the following day. An elder escorted DFO and VIU staff to a
remote and sacred reserve and identified a suitable place to bring the carcass
ashore and provide it with an honourable burial until such time as the bones
could be exhumed by Scia'new First Nations and VIU.
The
following morning, with the help of volunteers operating a tugboat and an
excavator, the whale was towed to the First Nations site and buried. Elders and
community members supervised as mesh was wrapped around the carcass so that
bones can be recovered after deomposition.
While
natural decomposition over the next two years or more initially prepares the
bones, VIU is seeking sponsors to fund the costs to work in partnership with
the Scia'new First Nation to exhume the bones and then prepare and reassemble
the skeleton for display in the atrium of the Deep Bay Field Station.
Kingzett
said the co-operative effort will provide the research station with a spectacular
display and learning opportunities.
The 13,000-square-foot, $8.6-million Deep Bay Field Station will open in
September. The field station will play a valuable role in coastal
research and educating both students and the public about the sustainability of
coastal communities and maintaining the health of inshore coastal ecosystems
where human development has its most immediate impact.
Kingzett pointed out that the grey whale is unique as a species in that
it feeds in shallow bays and estuaries including foraging in muddy and sandy
bottoms for worms, shrimp and other shellfish.
During their annual migration from the arctic to the Baja Mexico they
travel along the shore of Mexico, the US and British Columbia in very close
proximity to where coastal development is occurring.
“The
grey whale’s recovery from near extinction is a reminder that we have the
ability and a responsibility to protect and restore the health of the coastal
systems that we rely on to support ourselves,” Kingzett said.
To learn how you can support Deep Bay and the future
preparation and exhibit of this whale please contact Julie Keenan, Manager,
Major Gifts & Legacies at VIU, 250-740-6602
or julie.keenan@viu.ca
-30-
For
further information, contact: Brian Kingzett, Field Site Manager Centre for
Shellfish Research Vancouver Island University, 250-740-6399 Email: brian.kingzett@viu.ca
For
more on the Deep Bay Field Station, visit: viu.ca/deepbay
Tags: In the Community
