Politics, not boat, killed Luna, claim environmentalists
WHALE'S DEATH: Some finger DFO, others blame native group
Elaine O'Connor, The Province; with a file from The Canadian Press
Published: Sunday, March 12, 2006
Gold River's celebrity orca has been killed -- not by a tugboat propeller, but by politics, say marine-mammal advocacy groups.
The killer whale first surfaced in Nootka Sound in 2002, a two-year-old who had been mysteriously separated from his pod.
Nicknamed Luna, he was caught in a tug of war between fisheries officials, who wanted to capture and reunite him with his pod near Victoria, and local natives, who said they believed he was a reincarnated chief and struck a deal with Ottawa for compensation to monitor his movements.
The friendly whale sought companionship from people in passing boats, which he would playfully push around.
Luna died Friday when he was hit by a tugboat propeller off the northern tip of Vancouver Island.
Ryan Lajbak of Reunite Luna, a group formed to help reconnect the whale with his pod, says the federal department of fisheries and oceans should shoulder the blame.
"To me, the bottom line is endangered marine mammals are the government's responsibility, specifically DFO's responsibility -- and after the attempted capture a couple summers ago, they seem to have pushed Luna to the back of their minds," Lajbak said, arguing stewardship funds given to local natives were "inadequate" to properly monitor the whale.
Peter Hamilton of the Vancouver-based LifeForce Foundation, which also tried to get Luna reunited with his pod, attributed the death to political correctness.
"The DFO didn't want to fight with First Nations and [non-governmental organizations] who wanted to be politically correct and support First Nations. They all stood in the way of reuniting Luna, and this has led to Luna's death," he said.
Not everyone grieved Luna's loss.
Keith Bell, a Gold River resident and boater who said the whale interfered with his vessel several times, was not sorry to see him go.
"I think everybody [in the boating community] is probably thankful it's gone, but nobody likes the idea of it getting hurt that way," Bell said. "I guess you could blame the natives for the end of the whale -- because he would have been out of here with his pod if they hadn't interfered."
The orca was reported killed Friday at about 9:30 a.m. after he was sucked into a large propeller on the General Jackson, a 30-metre tug pulling a barge in Nootka Sound. The tug was taking shelter from a storm near Conception Point.
Dr. John Ford, a federal whale biologist, said the orca likely died instantly.
Testing is under way to confirm the whale's identity.
In 2004, DFO and U.S. officials tried to capture and reunite Luna with his pod. DFO spent $135,000 on the relocation, in addition to $100,000 raised by U.S. groups.
Luna's rescue failed due to opposition from First Nations, who used canoes to lead Luna from capture.
The Mowachaht/Muchalaht band believed Luna was the reincarnation of chief Ambrose Maquinna.
In 2005, the band was awarded $48,000 from DFO to monitor Luna and educated boaters to ensure the safety of the whale.
The band also agreed to record Luna's position and encounters and share the data with the DFO in a weekly call.
Ben Jack, a Mowachaht who was on the band council during the protests, said Luna will be missed.
"He brought a lot of inspiration to our people," Jack said.
"It just brought your whole spirit alive. You wanted to be there with him and have him around all the time."
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eoconnor@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Province 2006