Animal Advocates Watchdog
Concern grows about safety of solitary whale
Threats of violence against Luna prompt RCMP to increase patrols along Gold River dock
Judith Lavoie
Times Colonist
August 18, 2005
Frustrated boaters around Nootka Sound have threatened to dynamite, harpoon or shoot Luna the solitary orca.
Fears are growing that someone fuelled by alcohol, bravado or anger may try to harm the whale.
Additional RCMP patrols of the Gold River dock, increased presence of conservation officers on the water and more emphasis on heavy penalties for hurting the whale are among ways the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is dealing with the threats, said DFO spokesman Bill Shaw.
"I think a small element of people are expressing their frustration. Maybe they've had a few drinks and an encounter with the whale," he said.
"It's like road rage, but it's water rage."
Information about a fisherman who threatened to dynamite Luna has been handed over to Gold River RCMP. It will be up to police to decide whether to pursue it, Shaw said.
The man, speaking during an interview with CTV, said there are ways to make the orca leave Nootka Sound.
"Did you ever hear of dynamite? He ain't going to like dynamite," the man said.
Shaw said he was shocked that someone would appear on television saying he was going to do harm to an animal.
Luna, almost six years old, is a member of the endangered southern resident killer whale population. If he was harmed, charges could be laid under the Species At Risk Act as well as the Fisheries Act, said DFO spokeswoman Lara Sloan.
Penalties could range up to a $250,000 fine, five years in jail or both.
The televised threats provoked a "mini-action" this week by the U.S.-based Reunite Luna group. The organization's website asked supporters to contact Fisheries Minister Geoff Regan and senior DFO managers in Vancouver and ask what will be done to protect the whale.
Over the last four years, Luna has damaged boats and disrupted fisheries. But the last two weeks have been relatively quiet. Under the newly signed stewardship agreement with the Mowachaht/
Muchalaht First Nation, Luna has been led away from potential trouble several times, said Shaw.
Meanwhile, a proposal by writers Michael Parfit and Suzanne Chisholm to lead a scientific team to provide Luna with company and structured play is under consideration by DFO, Shaw said.
"There is a lot of merit to what they are saying," he said.
Luna turned up on his own in Nootka Sound in 2001, but an effort last year to capture him and reunite him with his pod in Juan de Fuca Strait was abandoned after he was lured away from the net pen by First Nations canoes.
The Mowachaht/Muchalaht believe Luna embodies the spirit of their dead chief.
CREDIT: Deddeda Stemler, Times Colonist
Frustrated by the antics of Luna, some boaters have threatened violence to get the rambunctious orca to leave Nootka Sound.
