It started with a mystery. Crab traps in a remote corner of BC were turning up on shore with teeth marks and missing bait. No one knew who was sneaking off with the goods.
When researchers set up cameras, the mystery cracked open in the most incredible way. Videos revealed a sea wolf swimming out to a deep-water trap, grabbing the floating marker, and tugging the entire rope and trap up onto the beach for a snack.
This was not some built-in instinct. It was a skill she learned, and likely one she shared with her pack.
The discovery, made with the Heiltsuk First Nation, shows how smart, curious, and inventive these coastal wolves truly are. It is a reminder that the wild world is still full of surprises that can fill us with a sense of wonder.
As ecologist Kyle Artelle put it, “This gives us a new dimension of what it can mean to be a wolf and raises a larger question: what else can they do?”
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