BEACHED SKATE: Anita Pinchette was having her morning coffee Wednesday on the beach in front of her home on Surfside Drive in Qualicum Beach when she saw this skate washing up on the shore. The animal measured, including the length of the tail, six feet long and four feet across. “I’ve fished all my life here and I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Anita’s husband Dennis Lowry. Brian Kingzett, the manager of VIU’s Deep Bay Marine Field Station, said it’s likely a big skate (raja binoculata), which are not unusual in the deep waters of the Georgia Strait but also not often seen by people.
BEACHED SKATE: Anita Pinchette was having her morning coffee Wednesday on the beach in front of her home on Surfside Drive in Qualicum Beach when she saw this skate washing up on the shore. The animal measured, including the length of the tail, six feet long and four feet across. “I’ve fished all my life here and I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Anita’s husband Dennis Lowry. Brian Kingzett, the manager of VIU’s Deep Bay Marine Field Station, said it’s likely a big skate (raja binoculata), which are not unusual in the deep waters of the Georgia Strait but also not often seen by people.
Skate washes up on Qualicum Beach shore
They are common in deep water but rarely seen near the shoreline
