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Decision on Luna Urgent as Floatplanes Endangered |
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Friday, September 12, 2003 The urgency comes as a result of news that Luna is interfering with floatplanes in Gold River harbour, and came close to causing a collision between two planes Wednesday. "Certainly his behaviour has changed, so there is a more urgent need to intervene," DFO marine mammal coordinator Marilyn Joyce said Thursday. "We may need to make a decision before the end of this month." Marc Pakenham, executive director of the Veins of Life Society, the organization spearheading a move to relocate the orca to his home pod, says a Veins crew observed Luna interacting with a floatplane that landed in Gold River harbour Wednesday. "He interfered with the plane's ability to manoeuvre" by pushing on the controls, Pakenham said. However, he added that the crew was able to intercede and prevent a collision between the moving plane and one that was already docked. Pakenham said Luna's new interest in aircraft could explain how he came to suffer a head cut two weeks ago. "He's been interacting with aircraft ... and that may explain where his wounds came from," Pakenham said. Pakenham calls Wednesday's episode "worrying" and says it underlines the need to relocate Luna as soon as possible. Luna's home pod frequents the waters off southern Vancouver Island until December, so if an intervention is to take place, it would have to be by early or mid-November, Joyce said. A DFO scientific panel has been convened to consider intervention options and present them to the DFO next Wednesday. When that happens, Joyce said, "We will take the advice of the panel, review that and make a decision." For More Information: Luna News from Activists -- www.reuniteluna.com
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