Luna (killer Whale) - Appearance in Nootka Sound

Appearance in Nootka Sound

Over the winter of 2000-2001, 5 members of L-Pod disappeared, considerably more than the typical mortality rate of one or two animals per year. Among those missing and presumed dead was Orcan, who was 25 years old and in his prime. The unusual losses of that winter led to speculation that L-Pod had been struck by a catastrophic event that Luna might have witnessed. It is common for other members of a pod, including uncles such as Orcan, to babysit young killer whales. It was speculated that Luna might have been traveling with Orcan away from the rest of the pod when Orcan died. After Luna did not reappear, he was declared dead by local researchers. However, in early July 2001, Luna re-appeared alone in Nootka Sound on the northern west coast of Vancouver Island, hundreds of kilometres from any other Southern Resident killer whale. A year later, the Mowachaht/Muchalaht people of northern Vancouver Island named L98 Tsux'iit after the tribe's late Chief, Ambrose Maquinna. The Mowachaht/Muchalaht claimed that because Maquinna had declared that after his death he wished to return as an orca or a wolf, that the appearance of Luna four days after his death was symbolic and likely to be his reincarnation.(See image of plaque commemorating the incident. Click through to the original at Wikimedia Commons for a highly-legible version)

At first Luna, like most wild killer whales, avoided boats and kept his distance from people. DFO tried to keep Luna's presence in Nootka Sound a secret for as long as possible to avoid a rush of visitors, and did not even tell other scientists about Luna until December 2001, by which time he had been there for six months.

However, everyone's attention was diverted from Luna as Springer (A73), another orphan calf, had turned up alone in Puget Sound. Springer soon became the center of attention that year.