NANAIMO — A new and distinctively west-coast style of restaurant could be serving the hungry needs of Harbour City patrons as early as this fall. But not everyone is thrilled with the idea.

Pequod Pete’s Sea Mammal Eats will be a seafood restaurant that forgoes traditional marine fare for a menu composed entirely of items derived from sea mammals.

“There’s a lot more than fish in the ocean,” said the restaurant’s spokesperson Christopher Shepherd. “If you’re willing to think outside of the aquatic box there’s some good eating out there.

“Nothing compares to dolphin ham and eggs for breakfast as far as I’m concerned,” he added.

Tentatively envisioned as a floating venue in the city’s Inner Harbour, Pequod Pete’s menu will feature such staples as Cetacean and Chips (both orca and white-sided dolphin), a philly cheesesteak made from harbour seal and the outlet’s proprietary recipe for orca fin soup. “You can get a lot of soup out of one orca dorsal fin,” Pete explained.

However, the idea strikes some people the wrong way. “I’m sorry, they’re serving what?!” said Jessica Yang, president of the Save the Orcas Foundation, when reached by The Beacon. “I sure hope this isn’t some kind of joke or article on a satire web site. Obviously, we’re very opposed to this.”

Yang said she would not try any of the restaurant’s offerings, regardless of how it was served. “Not in a box, not with a fox, not in a house, not with a mouse,” she said. “I would not eat them here or there. I would not eat them anywhere.”

Pete says he has plans to offer a special “experiential” children’s menu. Children under 12 will be given a harpoon and allowed to skewer a live seal. The seals will be kept in a holding pool next to the restaurant.

Construction of the new restaurant could begin by September, with the first sea mammal snack packs being served by year’s end. “Narwhal and beluga steaks are going to be seasonal items, but we’re hoping to have them ready for customers by Christmas,” he said.