North Saanich woman hopes to recover stolen sign gifted to her by late son
Renate Herberger says the theft of the mermaid house-marker aims to hurt her
North Saanich’s Renate Herberger, whom many know as the ‘Deep Cove Mermaid’ says the theft of a house-marker that her late son had gifted her was not random.
“It seems to me a personalized theft, not a random theft,” said Herberger. “The people who walk the trail [near her house] all know me personally and you can’t carry that under your arm. It looks stupid because, ‘What are you doing with Renate’s mermaid?’ And some stranger wanting to go on a hike to steal it makes no sense either, and the kids in this neighbourhood, they don’t steal this kind of thing.”
Herberger describes the situation as “very odd” in noting that the sign has never come off since it first appeared. In the past, she has also been away for several months a year, only to have found the sign safe and sound in its place, untouched.
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Herberger said the flat metal sign in the shape of mermaid — about three feet long and 12 inches high — served as a house marker, hanging from fishing line attached to a tree at the start of the driveway leading to her house, just past her mailbox. “Everybody who walks or drives past can see it because it’s big,” she said.
By way of background, Herberger has earned her nickname for her long-distance open oceans swims around the world to raise awareness for marine conservation and to honour the memory of her late son, Silvan Skye Valeska Herberger, who died Jan. 10, 2012 of suicide at the age of 23, shortly after her first swim through the Saanich Inlet. By her account, Herberger has swam 8,448 kilometres in spots around the world.
Herberger said she first noticed the sign missing on July 24 before reporting it to Sidney/North Saanich RCMP July 27. She added that the date of the theft coincided “pretty much” with the 22th anniversary of its purchase for $23 by her 10-year-old son in 1998 when he was in Coombs, B.C. on his way home from a camping trip to Horne Lake Caves. “My son discovered it actually in a tiny little store,” she said.
As such, it holds “huge nostalgic value” for Herberger. “He actually bought it for me from his pocket money,” she said. “So it’s not the monetary value. It’s the emotional value and that it stands for who I am. I never thought that anybody would steal it, because here nobody steals anything.”
This theft is not the first time Herberger has found herself having to deal with the emotional aftermath of losing something that reminds her of her late son
In 2015, an urn containing a portion of Silvan’s cremated remains went missing from a park bench. “It’s still missing, and again, I suspect that it was a person who was trying to hurt me. People do these kinds of things. These are not random vandalism.”
Herberger said her neighbours have shown great kindness in helping to recover the sign by plastering the neighbourhood with signs. “Who knows [where it might turn up],” she said. “My hope is to get it back.”
La Paz, B.C.S. (OEM-Informex).- La nadadora ambientalista alemana Renata La Sirena Herberger iniciará este martes un recorrido de al menos 6 días desde Cabo Pulmo hasta Cabo San Lucas, con el propósito de enviar un mensaje en favor de la conservación de la Vaquita Marina, especie endémica del Alto Golfo que está al borde de la extinción por diversos factores, entre los que destaca el factor antropogénico.
En esta ocasión estará apoyada en su trayecto por personal de la Secretaría de Marina, cuya lancha estará navegando a cuando menos 20 metros de la ambientalista, vigilando el trayecto y con el personal listo para apoyarla en caso de que se requiera.
La Sirena Herberger ha nadado en varios litorales de varios países siempre con la bandera de la defensa del medio ambiente, aunque en el mar cercano a Cabo Pulmo es donde ha visto la mayor cantidad de tiburones y agua malas; en el primer caso de tiburón tigre, aunque nunca ha sido atacada por los escualos; en el segundo caso, el contacto con la piel es tan fuerte que el dolor es más fuerte que el de un parto, dijo, motivo por el cual deberá nadar con traje de neopreno y con máscara.
Aunque el avance depende de las mareas y el viento, espera concluir su meta en un máximo de 6 días, es decir a más tardar el próximo 22 de enero.
La última vez que La Sirena Herberger nadó en litorales de Baja California Sur fue el pasado mes de noviembre, cuando salió de la Playa El Tecolote y dio una vuelta por la Isla Espíritu Santo, en un recorrido de mas de 100 kilómetros en el que estuvo acompañada por el joven Narok Neftalí Bernal Mireles; En esa ocasión, el nado fue a favor de la cultura del respeto al medio ambiente.
Antes ha recorrido a nado todas las islas desde Loreto hasta La Paz en un tiempo de 16 días, y en 6 ocasiones le ha dado la vuelta a la Isla Espíritu Santo.
La jornada consta de 20 kilómetros al día partiendo de Cabo Pulmo hasta llegar a Cabo San Lucas, en un lapso que depende del estado del tiempo ya que en esta temporada son comunes los vientos fuertes y marejadas.
