By Chris Tucker
Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — Travelers on the MV Coho ferry between Port Angeles and Victoria could get an eerie feeling they’re being watched this summer.
Two dinosaur models — gray-green velociraptors that are about 3 feet tall and 6 feet long — were placed inside Black Ball Ferry Line’s north terminal building on Railroad Avenue in Port Angeles on Thursday.
The models of the toothy, clawed dinosaurs popularized by the “Jurassic Park” movies are on loan to Black Ball from the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria.
‘Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries’
They’re a way to entertain passengers and for the museum to promote its current exhibit, “Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries,” which is scheduled to run throughout the summer.
The museum’s exhibit features a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, high-tech interactive displays and an IMAX film about dinosaurs.
The velociraptors will remain in place until Sept. 15.
The two replicas were placed atop wooden crates that read “LIVE DINOSAUR INSIDE.”
DINOSAURS from a1
“It looks like it’s jumping down on people below,” said Ryan Malane, director of marketing for Black Ball.
“It should be fun.”
The two dinosaurs were shipped to Port Angeles on the 10:30 a.m. Thursday ferry and were installed by the afternoon.
Malane said the dinosaurs will be sound- and motion-activated and will make growling noises when a person walks by.
“All the kids that go by it think it’s really funny,” he said.
Information about the dinosaurs also will be available on-site.
“We’ll have some dinosaur information down there for kids,” Malane said.
Previously, the Velociraptors were on display at the Bay Center Mall in Victoria.
Malane said one needn’t take a trip on the Coho to see the dinosaurs.
Anyone wanting to check them out can drop by during normal business hours before or after sailings.
________
Reporter Chris Tucker can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at chris.tucker@peninsuladailynews.com.
