Entire L Pod Takes “Inside” Route To
Summer Range

Chances of “Natural” Reunion for Luna Now Dim

Saturday, May 29, 2004
HANSON ISLAND, BC - Thursdays’s sighting of part of Luna’s orca family, L Pod, southbound via Johnstone Strait on the way to its summer range off southern Vancouver Island, was followed Friday by another sighting of the entire L pod making its way past Campbell River, still southbound. DFO scientists confirmed that all the matrilines of L Pod were present, including the L2 matriline which is the family group Luna comes from. Luna’s mother, L67, was accompanied by her youngest offspring, 2 year old Aurora. The sighting considerably diminishes the likelihood of a “natural” reunion for Luna, now in Nootka Sound on the opposite (western) side of Vancouver Island where he has been leading a solitary existence for the past 3 years.

“The slight remaining hope for a natural reunion is that K Pod, which was not with L Pod, could still be on the west coast,” said OrcaLab’s Dr. Paul Spong who had reported Thursday’s sighting. “If they are, Luna could still join them on their way south. Luna was very familiar with K pod in his early life and would feel comfortable being among them.” The orca researcher added, “Realistically, however, the chances of this happening are now slim.”

Despite the odds, the sailing vessel Anon is continuing its vigil off Nootka Sound and will remain there - hoping that K Pod will come near - until receiving confirmation that all the orcas of the Southern Resident community are in southern Vancouver Island waters.

Over the weekend, DFO officials will be evaluating the situation and determining the time at which their “Plan B” will commence. This plan will see Luna captured and held in a pen at Gold River while medical tests are conducted, then transported by road in a container to Pedder Bay near Victoria where he will be placed in another pen. The hope is that ultimately, Luna will be released back into the company of his Southern Resident orca community. The plan for Luna is modeled on the 2002 precedent of the baby orphan orca Springer’s return to her Northern Resident family, the A4 pod, after she was discovered far from her normal range off Seattle.

Mariners and the public are encouraged to immediately report all orca sightings via the toll free phone number 1-866-ORCANET. Boaters in Nootka Sound are urged to keep their distance from Luna if he is sighted, and to avoid all contact, including eye contact, with him. If Luna is thought to be approaching a vessel, it should leave his area at speed immediately.

For More Information: