Bid to reunite Luna, L Pod postponed
High winds, elusive whales thwart efforts to lead orca back to its family near Tofino
Judith Lavoie
Times Colonist
Saturday, May 22, 2004
Weather and disappearing whales conspired against the effort to lead Luna, the solitary orca, back to his family Friday.
After members of L and K pods were identified in the waters off Tofino Wednesday, the plan to lead Luna from Nootka Sound to Tofino, kicked into high gear.
Ed Thorburn, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Gold River field supervisor, has been practising leading Luna with a Zodiac boat and was planning to attempt the big trip Friday. But gale-force winds and no new sightings of the whales off Tofino halted the plans.
"It's a matter of health and safety when the waters are that rough," said Thorburn, who estimated that it could take 20 hours to lead Luna to Tofino, even in good weather.
And, there has to be positive confirmation that members of L Pod are in the area or there is no point in taking the four-year-old orca out of Nootka Sound, where he has spent almost three years.
Aircraft and helicopters over the west coast of Vancouver Island failed to see any sign of the whales Friday morning and there are fears they may have already headed down to the Juan de Fuca Strait, where they traditionally spend the month of June.
As soon as the whales appear around southern Vancouver Island, Plan B kicks in: Luna will be captured in a net pen in Gold River and trucked to a net pen in Pedder Bay, where it is hoped he will make acoustic connection with his family. Thorburn, who was heading out into Nootka Sound for another practice Friday afternoon, is holding on to the hope that the walk-the-dog approach might still be possible.
"We are on standby for the weekend," he said.
Clint Wright, who is organizing the logistics of the move for Vancouver Aquarium, will stay in Gold River for the weekend and any opportunity for a lead-out will be seized, Thorburn said.
However, plans are going ahead for the capture. Experts and scientists from the aquarium and DFO will take up residence Tuesday in a building beside the net pen on the old mill property in Gold River. The entire area will be closed to media and tourists. If Luna is captured, the harbour will be roped off.
Cameron Forbes of Critter Cove Marina is co-ordinating efforts to catch fish for Luna, which are being kept in a live net pen.
"We've got to get about 1,000 pounds of fish, and right now, we've only got a couple of hundred pounds," Forbes said.
Chinook are Luna's fish of choice, but in a pinch he will also eat other salmon, sardines, herring and ling cod as long as they are alive, Thorburn said.
"I have told Luna we have food for him -- now I just have to figure out how to get the fish here," said Thorburn.
John Nightingale, Vancouver Aquarium president, is leading the fundraising drive to move the lonely orca.
The Canadian and U.S governments have donated $260,000 and another $200,000 was needed in cash and donated services.
The money is coming in slowly but steadily, Nightingale said Friday. "We're not quite there yet, but we are optimistic."
The setup for the capture is worrying Paul Spong, of the whale research station Orcalab, who fears that because everything is in place, the capture will go ahead even if there is still a chance for a natural reunion.
Spong believes the L and K Pod whales are probably still circling off Tofino, waiting for other whales to join them from the north -- meaning they would have to pass the entrance to Nootka Sound.
"I am concerned that these guys are getting so very prepared (for the capture) that it will drive the agenda," he said.
A 14-metre sailing vessel the Anon is anchored at the mouth of Nootka Sound where skipper Keith Wood is listens for whale sounds on a hydrophone and makes daily forays out to sea to search for approaching orcas.
Luna is extremely vocal and, because he is now in an area of the Sound where noise will carry to the open ocean, it is possible passing pods will hear him, increasing the chance of a natural reunion, Wood said.