The Grateful Dead aren’t coming to play the Strawberry Festival, but Deer Lake is still seeing an unusually high number of deadheads this summer.
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The name shared by fans of the classic rock band actually refers to logs sunken just above or barely below the surface of the water.
These logs can be a hazard to boaters.
The Town of Deer Lake recently posted an advisory to area residents to use extreme caution while boating on the Humber River and Deer Lake because of the number of deadheads in these bodies of water.
Trees and branches fall into the river every spring and make their way towards the lake, but this past winter’s excessive rain and flood conditions has made the problem more severe this year.
Mayor Dean Ball said the Town of Deer Lake has removed several deadheads, but many of these hazards are still lurking just below the surface and can be quite difficult to see.
Deer Lake and the Humber River are popular spots for boaters and personal watercraft users who like to test the limits of their machines. Ball said it would be foolhardy to go too fast in areas where the danger is uncertain.
“Hitting one of these could tear the bottom off a boat and, if people aren’t careful, someone could be badly hurt,” he said.
While the biggest problem has been around the mouth of the Upper Humber, Ball said the deadheads can be found anywhere along the river and anywhere in the lake.
