Boat-free quiet zone intended to boost safety around Luna

Judith Lavoie
Times Colonist
July 12, 2005

Sports fishermen will be banned from an area of Nootka Sound in an effort to give Luna the lonely orca a quiet zone.

The aim is to minimize the five-year-old whale's interactions with vessels, both for his sake and for the safety of the boating public, said Ed Lochbaum, Department of Fisheries and Oceans fisheries manager.

"There's also the hope -- albeit faint -- that L Pod might come cruising by and there's that remotest possibility that there could be a natural reunification," he said.

The July 15 fishing ban -- which is infuriating sports fishermen -- will give Luna a corridor to the ocean without the distraction of boats and sonar fish finders and depth sounders.

"It's an area where Luna likes to hang around. It's what he regards as his home turf," Lochbaum said. "I understand there's a bit of anxiety in the sports fishing community because we did this very quickly, but it's a necessary step."

All options are on the table as DFO and the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation look at Luna's future.

Possibilities include leading him down the coast to rejoin his pod or capturing him in a net pen and pulling it down the west coast of Vancouver Island.

"In the longer term, I think it's safe to say the object of the First Nations, the public and DFO is to see a reunification," Lochbaum said.

"The First Nations are opposed to a physical removal, so we're in the middle of talking it through, we're brainstorming."

Last summer, a DFO plan to capture the boisterous young whale and truck him down Vancouver Island to rejoin his pod, was scuttled after Luna was lured away from the net pen by Mowachaht/Muchalaht canoes.

The First Nation believes Luna embodies the spirit of their dead chief Ambrose Maquinna, who died days before Luna turned up in Nootka Sound in 2001. Since then, Luna has remained seperated from his pod, choosing to stay in Nootka Sound.

The fishing ban will primarily affect the summer chinook sport fishery, but may also affect the commercial gillnet fishery this fall.

Last year, gillnetters became one of Luna's primary targets as he bumped boats and removed fish finders.

The fishing ban expands areas which have previously been closed for conservation, but the plan also allows fishing in one area of Hanna Channel which was previously closed.

Tim Cyr, owner of Nootka Island Fishing Lodge, said he and others are questioning the move to give Luna a quiet zone. "It's not even the area the whale normally goes," he said.

The ban will not dramatically affect fishing in Nootka Sound, but it begs the question of where to draw the line, Cyr added.

"These kinds of decisions should be based on science. This is totally out there," he said.

"Where does it stop? Do we shut down B.C. Ferries because there are killer whales in the Strait of Georgia? It's a knee-jerk reaction and everyone should remember the whale can swim."

Marc Pakenham of the Marine Mammal Monitoring program said members of L Pod, which includes Luna's mother and sibling, have been in Juan de Fuca Strait, but have not been seen for about 10 days.

Pakenham is hoping DFO and the Mowachaht/Muchalaht will come to some agreement leading to a mother and son reunion.

L Pod is part of an endangered species, so it is not just a matter of stopping Luna socializing with humans and damaging boats, Pakenham said.

"L Pod is in serious trouble. They need every bit of genetic diversity they can get. They need young males and he could make a substantial contribution to the pod."

Those who object to money being spend on the whale should remember that, in Victoria, the financial benefits of whale watching exceed those from commercial salmon fishing, Pakenham said.