Elephant seal inspires retired B.C. teacher to volunteer, write a book
When Debbie Austen was walking along the ocean last year and spotted a young elephant seal playing in the water, she never would have imagined it was the start of an enduring relationship.
“He has spunk. He has charisma,” Debbie recalls meeting the seal named Emerson. “And he was very intelligent.”
Emerson also seemed to always be doing something fun for Debbie to capture with her camera.
“He would be playing with the seaweed. He would be rolling [around the driftwood],” Debbie says before showing me video of Emerson’s antics. “And then he would look up at me, as if to say, ‘Did you see that?’ He felt proud.”
But after visiting Emerson almost daily for about a month, Debbie also saw how the seal would wander away from the water on to the shore, and transform a path for pets and pedestrians into a playground.
“He was getting into trouble towards the end,” Debbie says, showing video of how the Emerson was batting a pylon up and down with the sign warning people to keep their distance from him. “It wasn’t safe for him or others so he needed to be relocated.”
It wasn’t the first time Emerson was relocated, Debbie later learned. Emerson was born in a Washington state park, where the baby would regularly play around people, just like his mom Elsie-Mae did.
“[Elsie-Mae] ended up on picnic tables at campgrounds,” Debbie recalls reading. “I think she even climbed up the steps into a fifth wheel.”
This year, Debbie heard Emerson was back in the waters around southern Vancouver Island and hanging around public places, including a playground. After crossing a busy road, the seal was relocated even farther away. But this time, he swam a remarkable 34 kilometres a day to return to Greater Victoria just six days later.
“You've got to love a character that’s adventurous and out to have fun!” Debbie laughs.
When Emerson acts like the subject of a joke and wriggles out of the water, stopping traffic for hours so he can wander across a suburban street, you can ask "Why did the elephant seal cross the road?”
And the answer — rather than a punchline —seems to be his advice for living life, "Stop and smell the roses." Debbie says he literally stopped to play with some flowers when he got to the other side.
“He’s chosen an urban location,” Debbie laughs. “That little rascal.”
Debbie has chosen to volunteer with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to coordinate the dozens of others like her who are spending thousands of hours protecting Emerson during his annual moult, a painful month-long process of shedding a layer of skin and fur.
“This is where he’s giving us a gift,” Debbie says. “We can talk about what to do to co-exist.”
The retired teacher is educating people who pass the location where Emerson is moulting to stay quiet (so the seal doesn’t get distracted) and observe the seal from a distance (so he can play where it’s safe). If the wild animal can stay away from interactions with the public, he won’t have to be moved from this place he keeps choosing to call home.
“And we can just have a good giggle,” Debbie says, as a small group of people watch Emerson play in the water and lie on the beach. “And appreciate the wonderment of nature.”
Posters encouraging Emerson to run for mayor have been popping up on hydro poles around the beaches were he’s been hanging out. They show a seal standing at a podium, wearing a suit and top hat, promising a platform of “fish for all” and a promise to turn roads into “nap zones.”
Rather than politics, Debbie is planning to write a children’s book about the seal. Like Emerson, she hopes it will entertain, educate and inspire.
“We’re all connected through Emerson,” Debbie says of the thousands of people who’ve seen the seal. “There is a special place for him in our hearts.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6967165.1721231207!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Poilievre vows to fire envoy as Canada buys a $9M condo for diplomat in NYC
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is promising to fire Canada’s consul general in New York City if the Tories wins the next federal election.
'I feel like he did not die in vain': Family responds to report on tortured B.C. boy's death
The heartbreak over the death of an Indigenous 11-year-old Fraser Valley boy, tortured and then ultimately killed by his foster parents, was felt by all who knew him.
Rare photos reveal uncontacted tribe in Peruvian Amazon as loggers move in
Rare images of the Mashco Piro, an uncontacted Indigenous tribe in the remote Peruvian Amazon, were published on Tuesday by Survival International,
Here's who will take the podium today at the Republican National Convention
This year's Republican National Convention continued Wednesday with a packed list of speakers including vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, Donald Trump Jr. and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Trump shooter requested Saturday off from work and told colleagues he'd be back at work Sunday, officials say
The shooter who attempted to assassinate former U.S. president Donald Trump on Saturday normally would have been at work that day, but he told his boss he needed that the day off because he had 'something to do,' according to multiple law enforcement officials.
'Tragic trend' of fatal crashes prompts plea from B.C. Highway Patrol
Mounties who patrol B.C.'s highways are urging drivers in the province to slow down amid a 'tragic trend' of recent, fatal crashes.
In ethics hearing about Liberal minister, business exec admits he lied to a reporter
The chief witness in a parliamentary probe says he lied to a reporter when asked about ethics allegations against a federal minister.
U.S. eases new border rules for dogs from Canada as Liberals try to secure exemption
Health Minister Mark Holland says he's trying to convince U.S. authorities that Canadian dogs should be allowed to cross the border without restrictions.
'It's this or that': Why some Canadians aren't having kids anymore
Some Canadians feel stuck between a rock and a hard place when considering starting a family, while others are concerned about what their child's future could look like.