Sighting Of Luna's Pod Lifts
Hopes For Reunion

Tuesday, December 14, 2004
GOLD RIVER, BC – Luna lovers are hoping a miracle will allow the solitary orca to be reunited with his family.

Members of L pod, probably including Luna's mother, were spotted off Bamfield Dec. 2 reigniting hopes they may be heading past the entrance to Nootka Sound, where the five-year-old whale has lived on his own for almost three-and-a-half years.

But, even the most avid supporters of a natural reunion between Luna and his family admit it would take a whole bunch of luck for Luna and L pod to find each other.

"Everyone likes to get their hopes up," said Marilyn Joyce, Department of Fisheries and Oceans marine mammal coordinator, who spearheaded this summer's aborted attempt to net pen the whale, truck him to Victoria and release him in Juan de Fuca Strait when his pod was in the vicinity.

The capture attempt was scuttled after First Nations canoes lured Luna away from the net pen.

The Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation believes Luna embodies the spirit of their dead chief and, although they do not object to a natural reunion, do not want the whale physically removed.

Hopes for a natural reunion were dashed last spring when L pod swam down the east coast instead of the west coast.

It is not known where the pod spends winters, although they have been spotted as far afield as California and the Queen Charlotte Islands, so the sighting off the west coast of Vancouver Island is being regarded as a rare opportunity.

For a reunion to take place, the whales would have to be vocalizing as they passed the entrance to Nootka Sound, Luna would have to be near the entrance to the Sound -- instead of in his favourite fishing grounds in Mooyah Bay -- so he could hear them and both sides would then have to decide if they wanted to be with each other.

"The chances are remote, but miracles could happen and we all hope for them," Joyce said.

Although there are no plans to have Luna follow a boat to the entrance of the sound if the whales appear in the area, it is possible if all the conditions are right, Joyce said.

"We are always poised if there is a sighting, but, we don't know if we would even be able to find him in time if L pod does appear in the area," she said.

Paul Spong, director of OrcaLab research station on Hanson Island, said L pod members seen off Bamfield have not been seen since, but they have not turned up off the San Juan Islands where other southern resident orcas are milling around.

"That means they could possibly still be up off the west coast," he said.

It is long odds that a reunion will take place, but all that it needs is vocalizing whales to pass within 10 kilometres of Nootka Sound and for Luna to be near enough to hear, Spong said.

"It is a historical fact that Luna found his way into Nootka Sound and lightning does strike twice. Sometimes long odds pay off," he said.

"There's nothing to be done. It's just a matter of everybody keeping their eyes and ears open and their hopes intact."

Reporting sightings of whales is now more important than ever, said Susan Berta of OrcaNetwork, one of the groups tracking the southern residents.

The whales can travel up to 160 kilometres a day, so it is not easy keeping tabs on them, she said. Anyone spotting an orca should phone 1-866-ORCANET.

The good news is that hydrophones placed around Nootka Sound show that Luna is making lots of noise, Berta said.

"If the whales hear him I'm sure they will go and investigate."

Meanwhile, the stewardship agreement hammered out between DFO and the Mowachaht/ Muchalaht, has ended and will be reviewed early next year, Joyce said. "Right now we're at the re-evaluation stage," she said. "The ultimate goal is still to see Luna back with his family."

During the late summer and fall the Mowachaht/Muchalaht, funded by DFO, used a boat to deflect Luna when he interacted with boats.

Source: Victoria Times Colonist

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