Killer Whale's Freak Death Prompts
Call For Inquiry

Sunday, March 12, 2006
GOLD RIVER, BC - An environmental group in British Columbia wants an inquiry into the death of Luna, the friendly killer whale that died last week when it was sucked into a tugboat's propeller.

Peter Hamilton of Lifeforce Foundation, a Vancouver-based ecology organization, said he will write to the prime minister and heads of opposition parties asking them to back an investigation like a coroner's inquest.

The point would not be to lay blame, but to determine how to prevent such an event from happening again.

"Luna's death shouldn't be in vain, so an independent committee should be set up to look at why Luna was not returned to his family when another orca in another similar situation was successfully returned to her family."

Luna was separated from his family in 2001, but took to boats and float planes.

That became a hazard, so fisheries officials tried to reunite him with his pod, but local aboriginal people protested.

The Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nation believes Luna embodies the spirit of former chief Ambrose Maquinna, who died just days before the whale appeared.

Chief Michael Maquinna rejects the critics who blame the Mowachaht-Muchalaht for Luna's death.

The loss of Luna has cast a cloud over the community.

The band will hold a ceremony at the Gold River dock to say goodbye to the curious orca on Monday.

"Well, we'll have a few things to say and maybe a couple songs to sing and a chant, perhaps," Maquinna said.

Source: CBC News

For More Information: