“Being honoured to live on the unceded lands of the Musqueam Coast Salish Peoples my family are avid bone collectors and have an affinity for the biodiversity of the land we live. We spend many a day peeking in the windows to see what we can see in the far reaches of the closed cabinets and cupboards of the Beaty, in the back corner of a lower shelf we were thrilled to discover the Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga angustirostris). Incredibly the northern elephant seal is a quick moving giant and this being a bull seal it could have weighed up to 2300kgs and 4-5m. in length. These creatures have adapted to deep-sea fishing and have been known to hunt 300 to 800 meters below the surface. This hunting is only possible due to the high content of blood in the seal’s body that helps to store oxygen, males have been known to be underwater for up to 2 hours. This majestic creature once hunted to near extinction (20 left alive) has now bounced back to over 100,000 due to protection. We hope to travel to see the northern elephant seal in its habitat in BC.”

Justin van Westen. Social Worker; Avid Bone Collector