Sahsima / Harpoon Rock — Oak Bay, BC
Posted by: 
Dunbar Loop
N 48° 24.346 W 123° 19.392
10U E 476080 N 5361450
Set in the intertidal zone of Harling Point, Sahsima is an erratic that was left here during the last ice age.
Waymark Code: WM10JQD
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 05/17/2019
Views: 6
Sitting on bedrock of basalt, this granite boulder was left behind after the last ice sheet receded from Southern Vancouver Island around 15,000 years ago.
It is one of many erratics the dot the local landscapes and seascapes. Sahsima's uniqueness of location has provided local First Nations with a transformer site around which their spiritual heritage has woven a story:
In the Songhees’ story of harpoon rock, Hayls, the Transformer, with spirit companions, Mink and Raven, came in his canoe and frightened away a seal that a harpooner had been stalking. When the harpooner rebuked them, Hayls turned him to stone and left him with responsibility for protecting the seals on the point forever.