Growing Ever More Wild, Luna Menaces Gillnetters

Saturday, August 21, 2004
GOLD RIVER, BC - Fears are growing that Luna the lonely orca will be harmed by an angry or frightened boater or that the whale will accidentally hurt or kill someone on the water after a week of orca mayhem.

A gillnet fishery in Nootka Sound, off Vancouver Island's west coast, was thrown into disarray and two gillnet boats disabled by Luna Wednesday evening.

The thousands of dollars of damage to the commercial fishing boats and loss of fishing time for the owners came the day after Luna broke the rudder off an expensive sailboat and continued to play with the disabled vessel for 12 hours.

But, so far, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans says it has no plans to embark on another capture attempt and a yet-to-be-signed joint stewardship program with the Mowachaht-Muchalaht band will continue as the main method of managing the wayward whale.

Greg Savard, DFO director of conservation and protection, said he hopes the stewardship agreement will be signed next week, but in the meantime, some elements are already in place.

A brochure is being distributed on the Gold River dock by First Nations, more signs have been put up warning people to stay away from Luna and marine advisories are going out on the vessel traffic channel and the weather channel, he said.

"The message is the whale is in the area and please, if possible, avoid the area. If that's not possible, be very cautious," Savard said. "If you don't need to be there, don't be there."

At one point this week, DFO considered calling off the fishery because of the whale danger, something that would have resulted in a huge financial hit.

Gillnetters in the area have had only five days fishing this year so far, so the loss of the day's fishing for the boats broken by Luna is a huge hardship, said Les Rombaugh, president of the Area D Gillnetters Association.

The next fishing opening for the gillnet fleet in Nootka Sound is likely to be in October, for a chum salmon fishery.

More has to be done to protect fishermen, recreational boaters and the whale, Rombaugh said.

"I think we have a very serious problem here. I'm afraid someone is going to get killed or someone will kill him," he said.

Most fishermen realize the orca is playing, but, financial consequences are escalating and people in small recreational boats may feel they are threatened, Rombaugh said. "It would be along self-defence lines."

Rombaugh said he has not been able to talk to the two boat owners whose vessels were damaged, but he believes the rudders were damaged.

The chinook fishery this week was a good one and anyone who missed out is probably looking at a $10,000 loss in addition to the cost of repairing the boat, he said.

Most of the gillnet boats are about 13 metres long and travel between 12 and 15 knots, but Luna was able to keep up, said one observer. Boats would set off at top speed attempting to get away, but Luna apparently regarded it as part of the game, said Rombaugh.

In June, DFO and scientists from the Vancouver Aquarium teamed up in an effort to catch four-year-old Luna in a net pen and truck him to Pedder Bay to reunite him with his pod. But the plan was scuttled after members of the Mowachaht-Muchalaht, who believe the whale embodies the spirit of their dead chief, led Luna away from the net pen with canoes.

Chief Mike Maquinna could not be contacted Friday.

Savard said the question of Luna's future will be revisited this fall, although no date has been set. Options could include another shot at relocation.

In the meantime, although DFO is concerned about the safety of the whale and the public, liability does not fall on any particular group, he said.

"We look at this as a wild animal that we don't necessarily have any control over," he said. But, as Luna's love of boats intensifies, the chance of a successful reunion with his family is shrinking and fears are growing that he could end up in an aquarium.

Clint Wright, Vancouver Aquarium vice-president, who helped organize the aborted relocation, said he does not believe it is viable for Luna to remain in Nootka Sound, but it is increasingly unlikely he will give up his boat habit, even if he is with other whales.

"Whales don't live in a Disney sort of world and people who know whales say he will keep doing these behaviours over and over again," Wright said.

Wright is worried that Luna or a boater will get hurt. "It really is an accident waiting to happen . . . We all want a happy ending, but it's beginning to look like a dead end," he said.

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