Luna (killer Whale) - Relocation Attempts and Alternatives

Relocation Attempts and Alternatives

Over the summer of 2003, the DFO came under increasing public pressure to address the Luna matter.

The Department agreed to provide funding for the Luna Stewardship Project, founded by former DFO biologist Mark Pakenham and calling private individuals to monitor Luna in Nootka Sound and keep people away from the orca. However, days after it cut funding to the Luna Stewardship Project, it was reported that a contractor hired by DFO to monitor the crisis had been seen beating the orca at the Gold River dock. Clearly, interactions between humans and boats and this increasingly social and fast-growing male orca were becoming dangerous. It quickly dispelled DFO's argument that Luna was thriving and safe where he was.

Also in July, DFO's second argument for inaction was rendered moot—researchers confirmed that Springer not only had returned to Johnstone Strait with her family after about nine months in the open ocean, but by all indications she was thriving as a wild whale.

KOMO 4 News reported that "Springer's apparent success also gives some orca groups ammunition to seek a second attempt. Luna, a lone male orca, continues to frolic with boaters in Vancouver's Nootka Sound. As recently as last May Canadian scientists decided not to interfere and let nature take its course. The Orca Conservancy for one hope that Springer's return proves the same course could be taken with Luna to re-introduce him to his native L-Pod."

"We hope that we give Luna the same chance that we gave Springer," explains Michael Harris, President of Orca Conservancy. "Let Luna hear his family. If you give these animals a chance to repatriate with other orcas, away from humans, if you give them a choice between humans and orcas, every time they choose other orcas."

DFO's last argument for not taking action to save Luna—the lack of funds — was put aside at a press conference at Seattle Aquarium in October 2003 conducted by U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, the Regional Director of the NMFS, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Navy. Sen. Cantwell announced a commitment of "$100,000 USD or more if needed" toward the immediate rescue and repatriation of Luna to Puget Sound, and called on the Canadian government to match that commitment. All indications were that DFO would, and Luna might soon be going home.

"I think it's miraculous how fast this has come together," said Harris on KOMO 4 News.

As expected, a few days later,the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Robert Thibault, announced that Canada would match the U.S. offer with $135,000 CDN. However, DFO, without consulting its Scientific Advisory Panel, announced that Luna would not be moved until the spring of 2004.

The decision to delay the operation drew a wave of objections from scientists and advocates on both sides of the border, most of which were recommending immediate action—Southern Resident orcas were still present in Puget Sound and the Strait of Georgia, Luna's repatriation site, and most importantly, boat traffic in the area was on the wane. Conditions were perfect to for the repatriation attempt. And yet, DFO decided to wait. One critical scientist on the Panel reported the federal government had prohibited him from commenting publicly on how best to move Luna.

"Lance Barrett-Lennard, a research scientist at the Vancouver Aquarium, said news last week that the federal government wanted to wait until spring for the move was a surprise. 'That caught us unprepared a little bit – (the panel) was not notified. It was not our recommendation.'"

At a conference on Orcas Island, Washington on April 5, 2005, DFO unveiled its plan to rescue and repatriate Luna. It would involve two phases—"Plan A" would be to attempt to employ a DFO boat in leading the orca out of Nootka Sound and into Southern Resident whales expected to appear at least in passing off the mouth of Nootka in May or June. If that proves impossible, then in June DFO would go to "Plan B," the hard capture and translocation of the orca to a repatriation site at Pedder Bay, on the southern end of Vancouver Island, where he would be released to his family.

However, the Canadian government was getting repeated warnings from NGOs that opposition was growing among the region's First Nations to the rescue of Luna. They began to voice their opposition to DFO and its primary contractor, Vancouver Aquarium, coming into their ancestral waters and removing the whale.

Orca Conservancy came out strongly in support of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht, demanding that DFO do a better job consulting First Nations in the matter—as NMFS had done successfully with the Namgis First Nation during the Springer effort. Meetings were conducted between DFO and Mowachaht/Muchalaht Chief Mike Maquinna, the son of Ambrose, but the impasse continued. Other First Nations bands throughout British Columbia also expressed their support for the Mowachaht/Muchalaht and their opposition to the capture. At this stage, Orca Conservancy initiated a mediation between Chief Maquinna and DFO. In April, through an introduction from Namgis Chief Bill Cranmer, the organization sent its Board Member Fred Felleman to Gold River to meet with Chief Maquinna and discuss the crisis. The Mowachaht/Muchalaht reiterated their position, but gave its assurance that it would not block efforts to reunite Luna with his family via Plan A, the boat-follow option. As summer approached, the band actually began providing material support to what was now being called "the soft introduction" of the orca to its natal pod.

By May 2004, DFO and Vancouver Aquarium, assisted by the leading NGOs, were initiating Plan A. The first step was to train Luna to follow the designated DFO boat, hopefully out of Nootka Sound and, if and when the time came, into the path of passing Southern Resident orcas. DFO agents reported that the whale responded positively to the training, and video shot by KING 5 News (NBC Seattle) proved that the whale was following the boat well outside the entrance to Nootka Sound, a critical threshold if the team needed to intercept a passing wild group. NGOs began establishing a sightings network along the remote west coast of Vancouver Island, utilizing existing land-based spotters as well as sophisticated underwater microphones, or hydrophones, sourced by Orca Conservancy and American Cetacean Society/Puget Sound and operated by Keith Wood of Anon.org at Yuquot (Friendly Cove). The coast was also monitored periodically by volunteer pilots looking for whales.

Hopes for the boat-follow rose notably in mid-May 2004 when some of Luna's family was sighted off Strawberry Island, BC, the west side of Vancouver Island but still some 100 kilometers away from Nootka Sound. The pod never came closer. In late May, researchers confirmed that the rest of the Southern Resident Community of orcas had in fact taken the route along the east coast of Vancouver Island, eliminating any chance of a natural reunion. By June, DFO began preparations for Plan B.

"With the recent sightings of Luna's pod in the Juan de Fuca Strait, we believe the chances of a natural reunification in the Nootka Sound area have been exhausted," said Marilyn Joyce, Regional Director of DFO.

"It was like finding a needle in a haystack," conceded Harris. "And it's tempting, because there's still L-Pod off the coast, so it's still tempting to say, 'Hey, we can do this,' but you know, they gave it the best chance they can give it, and it just didn't work out."

Meanwhile, tensions were growing with the Mowachaht/Muchalaht in Nootka Sound. A report surfaced that Vancouver Aquarium Director John Nightingale had allegedly alerted Emergency Services at Gold River to prepare for tear-gas injuries. Nightingale also raised concerns on both sides of the border by his request to DFO to close the airspace above the operation to news helicopters. Access to the main dock where the capture team would operate was severely restricted, and no First Nations representative was given access. Furthermore, OrcaLab, which had hosted DFO and Vancouver Aquarium team members during the Springer effort, was now being banned by Nightingale from the Gold River dock. OrcaLab and its Director, Dr. Paul Spong, were strong advocates of the First Nations during the Springer project, as well as a critical partner up until that time on the Luna effort, conducting the Luna Research Project under a DFO permit that previous winter. Denying OrcaLab was considered by many both a strategic mistake and a grave insult, and another blow to citizen oversight. Consternation also was growing about the fact that DFO and Vancouver Aquarium had placed a strict embargo on media access to the operation, and yet had contracted with a private production company to shoot pool footage of the capture and translocation of Luna, in return for allowing the company to retain exclusive license to the video.

At this time, Harris was invited to Chief Mike Maquinna's house in Gold River to discuss the crisis and a unique mediation was crafted—a First Nations-assigned monitor and a broadcast photojournalist, both of whom would be given unfettered access to the operation at all time. The NGOs and the U.S. Congressional delegation supporting and helping to fund the Luna effort would stand with the Mowachaht/Muchalaht as it delivered a Demand Letter to DFO. The Mowachaht/Muchalaht would assign the monitor (which later became Nu-Chuh-Nulth reporter David Wichar) and Orca Conservancy would provide the band a veteran network photojournalist (Kevin Ely). Should the First Nations deem the capture and translocation is going forward in what the band deemed a disrespectful manner, it would have two ways of putting a stop to it—through the print pieces published by Wichar, and more immediately, the compelling video that Ely would distribute to the satellite media trucks present at Gold River. It was clear to everyone that public pressure was the sole reason DFO was finally intervening on behalf of Luna; public pressure, presumably, could also put a stop to it. The Demand Letter was written by Chief Maquinna and sent to DFO, and after significant pressure on the U.S. side, the agency finally assented to the mediation agreement. The capture would go forward.

On June 15, 2004, the translocation operation was initiated. DFO began trying to lure Luna into a floating pen in order to rehabilitate him in the same manner as Springer. As the operation got underway, the Mowachaht/Muchalaht and other First Nations took to the water in traditional canoes, singing farewell songs to their soon-to-be-departed visitor, and some said, their Chief. However, the singing apparently proved too irresistible for the curious orca—at least more so than the sounds of the DFO capture boat trying to lure him into confinement. The orca approached the First Nations canoes, and the surprised band members began interacting with him. What transpired thereafter is a matter of opinion. Some onlookers believe that the Mowachaht/Muchalaht decided to seize the moment before the eyes of the world's media and make a bold statement. Other witnesses believe that Luna simply found the singing and caressing of the canoes irresistible. In any case, what is clear is that the distraction prevented the capture team from luring Luna into confinement, despite repeated attempts over the next several days.

Some said Luna appeared at this stage to get caught up in the cat-and-mouse game with federal agents. At times, it became a source of amusement for onlookers. At one point, the orca allowed the team to lead him to the opening to the seapen, but then at the last second ducked under the escorting DFO boat, surfaced on its stern and pushed the vessel into the seapen before returning to the canoes. That was as close as Luna ever came to being captured. In the ensuing days, however, the tug-of-war on Nootka Sound ceased to be comical. In fact, it became dangerously heated, with DFO vessels allegedly buzzing First Nations canoes and rocking them in their wake. Tempers were rising on both sides and authorities on both sides of the border raised concerns. Finally on June 24, 2004, DFO stood down. Once the Mowachaht-Muchalaht exhausted its federal funds to act as stewards, Luna once again was left to his own devices.