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Wrong turn leads elephant seal to highway in Saanich

Teamwork needed to return seal to Colquitz Creek
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A team spent more than two hours redirecting a juvenile elephant away from the Trans-Canada Highway in Saanich. (Gorge Tillicum Community Association/Facebook)

A walk in the park unveiled an unusual visitor.

A juvenile elephant seal was found near the Burnside exit ramp of the Trans-Canada Highway on Monday, March 27.

In a post on the Gorge Tillicum Community Association Facebook page, Dorthy Chambers said the seal had made a wrong turn when looking for a quiet place to molt and ended up near the highway.

Two officers with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and two officers with the Saanich Police Department nudged the seal back over the berm and into Cuthbert Holmes Park. It was a slow process, taking about an hour-and-a-half of grunt work – both from the officers and the seal.

Chambers joined officers in the park and said it took another hour to get the seal back into Colquitz Creek.

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