Luna (killer Whale) - The Namu Shuttle

The Namu Shuttle

A Seattle-based non-profit organization, Orca Conservancy, which initiated the campaign to rescue and repatriate Springer and helped raise the funds for that successful effort, also took the lead in calling for a similar effort on behalf of Luna. In March 2002, the organization teamed up with Earth Island Institute and the Free Willy-Keiko Foundation in presenting a fully funded, seven-point, peer-reviewed rescue plan for Springer to National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the central component of the plan being the so-called "Namu Shuttle", leading the orca into a hydrodynamic seapen and then towing it to Johnstone Strait. The procedure was used successfully in 1965 by Ted Griffin to translocate Namu, the first captive orca, from northern Vancouver Island to Seattle, almost the exact distance that would be required for Springer's move. The groups later offered an additional option — transporting Springer via a high-speed hovercraft, which was offered to the project through the Canadian Consulate in Seattle. On both options, Orca Conservancy and Earth Island/Free Willy-Keiko Foundation proposed that after delivering Springer to her natal waters, the rescue team and critical equipment would be kept in place and marshaled for a return trip—the translocation of Luna from Nootka Sound, BC to his natal waters in Puget Sound, Washington.

The "Namu Shuttle" proposal from Orca Conservancy and Earth Island Institute/Free Willy-Keiko Foundation linking the Springer and Luna efforts was reported on regional television newscasts and print media and was gathering broad support among the public. By May 2002, people on both sides of the border were clamoring for federal agencies to take direct action to save the whales. Since Springer was a Canadian whale in U.S. waters, NMFS was the governing authority that was responsible for greenlighting the rescue. And as Luna was a U.S. whale in Canadian waters, the agency that needed to approve any rescue effort in Nootka Sound was the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Canada—and by all indications, DFO did not intend on doing anything for Luna.

“There is certainly less of a sense of urgency with L-98, compared to A-73,” said John Ford, Canadian Fisheries and Oceans. “But we are still not confident about his prospects for the long term."

Luna would be left to linger in Nootka Sound, and the focus soon turned to Springer. But once that historic rescue, translocation and repatriation was completed in July and August 2002, all eyes again turned to Luna. NGOs like Orca Conservancy, OrcaLab, Veins of Life Watershed Society and Reunite Luna pressed hard for DFO to take action to save Luna, "quid pro quo," as Orca Conservancy's Michael Harris said on Seattle television. "We brought back your orca, now let's do something about ours." But DFO's public response was firm—Luna would be left where he was. The agency stated many reasons not to intervene, but outlined three major ones—first, Luna was thriving in Nootka Sound and was posing no danger to himself or others; second, it was premature to justify intervention on behalf of Luna based on the apparent success of the Springer effort, as the true test of whether or not Springer's translocation had worked would be the following July if and when she returned with her family to its summer feeding grounds in Johnstone Strait. Many DFO biologists quietly predicted that she would not survive the winter. Lastly, even if it were deemed necessary to intervene with Luna, and Springer successfully returned to Johnstone Strait, DFO simply did not have the funding to take on such an action.