Students in Gail Henderson's class at Sea View Elementary created a book titled Kaouk, the Trailer Park Sea Lion and dedicated it to the North Island's Marine Detective, Jackie Hildering.
The Grade 4/5/6 class wrote the book that blends the known facts of the case with their own theories on why the sea lion decided to leave the inlet and take refuge in the trailer park.
"The project would not have been possible without the help of Ardie Bazinet who works at the school and has been a huge supporter of the project," said Henderson. "We could not have done it without her."
Bazinet, who is also a councillor for the Village of Port Alice, arranged to have 50 copies of the book printed at no cost to the students.
The books sell for $10. A portion of the proceeds will go to support the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre that came to the aid of the young male sea lion. It is believed Kaouk fled to the safety of a Port Alice trailer park as killer whales moved into the waters off Port Alice. The remainder of the proceeds will go towards the students' field trip to Victoria.
The sea lion was taken to the Vancouver Aquarium to recover, but a date for releasing him back to the wild has not been set.
Port Alice residents wanting a copy of the book can come by the school and pick one up, said Henderson. People from other parts of the North Island can phone the school at 250-284-3315 to arrange to have a copy mailed to them.