Luna (killer Whale) - Debate

Debate

From January to July 2002, attention was diverted from Luna when Springer (A73) turned up orphaned and alone in Puget Sound, Washington. Although it is extremely rare for killer whale calves to be found alone and the cases of Luna and Springer emerged within a year of each other, no connection between their situations has ever been found. In July 2002, Springer was captured and relocated from Puget Sound to her family's summer waters off northeastern Vancouver Island.

By the summer of 2003, it was apparent that Springer was healthy and had bonded with close relatives. This raised hopes that Luna could also be moved home, and that he would bond with his family and resume a normal life. Luna was healthier than Springer, and his mother was still alive. Paul Spong of OrcaLab said in 2004, " I don't have any doubts about Luna's future, once he returns to the side of his mum." However, other killer whale experts expressed skepticism that a reunion would work, as it was unknown why Luna had left his family in the first place. Luna had spent much of his early life apart from other killer whale role models, and had not had a chance to develop the social skills required in pod life. Even Springer's reunion had not been wholly smooth – she received extensive teeth-rake marks from other killer whales in the first days of her release. With his limited social experience, scientists had doubts about whether Luna, if he grew to adulthood, would be able to successfully attract females to mate with. In addition to questions of whether relocating Luna would succeed, there was the philosophical question of whether it was appropriate for humans to intervene in the life of a wild animal rather than let nature take its course.

The DFO has jurisdiction over marine mammals in Canadian coastal waters. For several years, the DFO's approach was to monitor Luna and try to minimize his interactions with people. Many hoped that the Luna would reunite naturally with his family if they passed by Nootka Sound. Officials were afraid of a public relations disaster should a reunion effort fail in front of worldwide media attention.

By the spring of 2003, the consensus amongst a panel of experts convened by the DFO was that some form of intervention was necessary; however, there was little consensus on what exactly to do. As Luna was physically healthy and Nootka Sound had enough fish to sustain him, the DFO did not believe that relocating Luna was urgently needed. The DFO's slowness to act was heavily criticized by many whale advocates, as the longer Luna was away from his pod, the lower the chances of successful re-integration.