Luna (L98) was born near San Juan Island in Puget Sound, British
Columbia, on the 19th of September 1999, his mother was Splash (L67).
Both Orcas are part of the L 2 matriline.
The orca matriline
system works this way. Female and young male Orcas tend to remain in
their own pods, these are usually run by the oldest matriarchal female,
very similar to the matriarchal system elephants use. Breeding usually
occurs when two pods of differing matriarchal lines meet up. This
ensures no interpod breeding occurs.
Pods generally consist of related individuals; brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins all make up a pod’s membership.
Not long after the birth of Luna, K pod arrived in Puget Sound and they
travelled for a while with the L pod and Luna was seen quite healthy
and happy.
Problems arose in June of 2001 when a census was
carried out by the Centre for Whale Research in the San Juan Island
area; Luna was found to be missing and presumed dead, however in July
of that same year Luna showed up healthy and well.
Luna in Nootka Sound
Luna
in Nootka SoundIn the fall of 2001 the Department of Fisheries and
Oceans (DFO) Canada, was informed of the presence of a killer whale
(Orca) in Nootka Sound, this
turned out to be Luna.
It was assumed Luna had wandered off with an uncle who had died
suddenly leaving Luna on his own with no knowledge of how to find his
pod again. Having wandered Luna had found his way to Nootka Sound. The
Department of Fisheries and Oceans decided to sit back and see if Luna
would leave the area of his own accord.
Problems arose when
Chief Ambrose Maquinna of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation
expressed a wish to come back as an Orca; Luna's arrival was seen as
this desire being fulfilled. To compound the problems, word of Luna's
arrival also leaked out and tourists began to arrive to see the Orca.
All this attention was very much to the young Orcas liking and he began
to develop a keen interest in the boats and float planes now visiting
the area. Luna found that more attention could be gained by hanging
around the dock area of the sound.
Lonely Luna
Lonely Luna
Not all of this attention however was healthy, under Canadian law it is
illegal to disturb or approach marine mammals and fines of up to
$10,000 can be imposed. Despite this, tourists still insisted on
petting Luna, brushing his teeth, and feeding him junk food and beer.
Some people even went as far as to threaten Luna's life. The Luna
Stewardship Project was launched to protect and monitor Luna.
In the fall of 2002 attempts were made to convince government agencies
that Luna should be moved to Southern Vancouver Island or Puget Sound
where there was a better chance of him regaining contact with his pod.
The DFO decided to maintain their ‘wait and see’ attitude.
[BB]
February 2003 saw the formation of the L98 Science Panel to decide what
to do about Luna, the Panel decided that more information was needed on
Luna's health and behaviour before they would even consider intervening
and moving him. A one-day pod call experiment was conducted to see if
Luna would respond to calls, results however proved to be inconclusive
and with the Science Panel unable to come to a decision, once again the
sit and wait attitude prevailed.
The summer of 2003 once again saw the LSP monitoring and protecting Luna.
Despite the signs posted, clearly indicating the penalties for
interfering with Luna, tourists persisted. Luna began wanting more and
more attention and sought it by rubbing and pushing boats and
interfering with the take-off and landing of float planes in the area.
The LSP were stretched to the limit with too many sightseers, boaters
and tourists all wanting to have close contact with Luna. Tensions
soared and after Luna was attacked with a stick, a man was fined $100.
At the end of August it was discovered that Luna had a deep cut above
his eye from suspected contact with a boat. What also didn't help
matters was that during the summer the LSP was put at risk when the DFO
interrupted funding. A petition was launched and 4000 signatures, along
with 12,000 letters and e-mails from all over the World, were submitted
to the DFO to at least provide protection for Luna but preferably to
relocate him. In light of this public pressure, and concerns for the
safety of Luna, a decision was finally made in September of 2003 by the
reconvened Science Panel to relocate Luna. October of that same year
saw the DFO publicly announce that this would happen, but not however
until the spring of 2004.
The Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation
expressed concerns about moving Tsux”iit, as Luna was known to them in
honour of their departed Chief.
April 2004 saw the
implementation of a plan to try and naturally reunite Luna with his
pod, if members of his pod were nearby, Luna would be guided out of
Nootka Sound to them. Plans were also being arranged for Luna to be
captured and transferred to Pedder Bay to be held in a holding pen to
await release once his pod entered the area.
The DFO met with
the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation representatives to inform them of
their intentions, however the representatives remained adamantly
opposed to any relocation or capture of Luna.
Two attempts were
made to lead Luna out of Nootka Sound when his pod was in the area,
these unfortunately proved unsuccessful and it was decided that the
capture and relocation method should be tried.
In June 2004 a
holding pen was in place and attempts were made to guide Luna into it.
Members of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation were present in two
traditional canoes and managed to guide Luna away numerous times from
the holding pen and tried to direct Luna towards Muchalat Sound.
Tensions became high between the two groups, the DFO leading Luna
towards the pen, with one almost successful attempt, and the
Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation canoeists leading Luna away.
Eventually to ease tensions and save stressing the orca the DFO backed
off and cancelled the attempt.
The fall of 2004 saw Luna have
several unfortunate boat encounters, however the LSP, formed to watch
over Luna, did an outstanding job ensuring that potentially worse
incidents than those that did take place did not occur.
Now, in
2005, Luna still remains separated from his pod in Nootka Sound, the
summer boating and tourist season has arrived and protection for Luna
during this time is of high concern. The stewardship plan has been
worked out for this year, but remains unfunded.
That is the
current problem, in order to keep both the public and Luna safe they
need the public's support. The DFO needs to be petitioned to fulfill
its mandate to conserve and protect its marine mammals, like Luna, by
providing adequate funding for stewardship. You the public can make
this happen.
This intelligent creature is essentially a lost
and confused five-year old who thinks the boats and people who come to
visit him are his pod. He is unaware of his own strength, the danger of
boats and their propellers, and unaware that there are people out there
who could intentionally or inadvertently hurt him.
Show your support for this wayward five-year old and log onto http://www.reunite luna.com to find out how you can help.
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