Luna 'trapped' by wave of noise
As fishing season opens, biologist urges ban on sonar in Nootka Sound

Judith Lavoie
Times Colonist

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Constant noise from sonar fish finders and depth sounders may be driving Luna, the solitary orca, to distraction, says Roger Dunlop, fisheries biologist with the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council.

As fishermen head to Nootka Sound for the first boating weekend of the season, Dunlop is calling for a ban on sonar in Nootka Sound.

"I think Luna's trapped by a noise field and it's driving him to do things he wouldn't normally do," Dunlop said Saturday. His theories are cautiously supported by whale experts.

When the whale's ability to use echoes to find his way is disrupted by sonar, it is not surprising that he damages transducers and rudders, Dunlop said.

"Luna is crying out, 'Shut up.' I think that's what he's here to tell us."

Five-year-old Luna turned up in Nootka Sound, off the Island's west coast, in 2001 and has created havoc as he plays with boats, disrupts fisheries and regularly removes sonar fish finders from vessels.

A Department of Fisheries and Oceans plan to relocate Luna last summer, in hopes he would rejoin his pod, fell apart after the Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nation lured him from the net pens with their canoes.

Paul Spong, director of OrcaLab, said there is growing awareness in the scientific community of the problems underwater noise causes for whales.

"Anything that can be done to reduce noise levels in the sound, particularly from pingers that are used in fish finders, would be potentially helpful," he said.

Some transducers are so loud it is likely they are painful to whales and, although it's unlikely to entirely explain Luna's boisterous behaviour, it would be an interesting experiment to ban them from Nootka Sound, Spong said.

John Ford, DFO marine mammal scientist at the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo, said there are probably many reasons why Luna plays with boats, such as using them as a social surrogate.

However, sonar likely plays a part, he said. "Luna went through a period of breaking transducers off small boats and we did wonder if he was reacting to the sound of those fish finders and depth sounders. Was it irritation or fascination?" Ford said.

But the idea of banning sonar would not go down well with boaters, said Tim Cyr, owner of the Nootka Island Lodge.

Almost every boat is equipped with sounders for safety, rather than to find fish, he said. "They're needed so people don't hit the rocks."

Luna tends to play with transducers whether they're on or off, he said. "He gets mad if you don't play with him -- that's the bottom line."

Tourists and boaters are on their way to the picturesque Nootka Sound area -- and Luna is waiting.

But, so far, no stewardship agreement has been reached between the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nation.

First Nations representatives will be handing out information, warning people to stay away from the orca, and patrolling the area -- telling boaters not to approach Luna or cut their engines when they see him -- even though no agreement is in place, said Roger Dunlop, Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council fisheries biologist.

"We don't have any money, but someone has to do it," he said.

The Mowachaht-Muchalaht estimate the cost of dockside education and boat patrols for 16 hours a day, seven days a week during the summer would be $177,000.

The budget has been submitted to DFO, but the First Nation is also hoping to raise money from other sources, including the possibility of charging whale enthusiasts or scientists who want to spend time on the stewardship vessel.

Last year, after an aborted attempt to relocate Luna to southern Vancouver Island, where it was hoped he would rejoin his pod, DFO provided the Mowachaht-Muchalaht with $10,000 for an education and monitoring campaign.

That meant the First Nations boat was on the water less than 16 per cent of daylight hours, Dunlop said.

This year's budget allows $512 a shift for two people, the boat, gas and transportation.

DFO spokeswoman Lara Sloan said a review of last year's stewardship program has been conducted, but it has not yet been possible to set up a meeting with the Mowachaht-Muchalaht to discuss this year's program.

Meanwhile, fisheries officer will be out in the area as part of their usual duties, she said.

The Mowachaht-Muchalaht, who prevented capture of the whale last summer, believe Luna embodies the spirit of their dead chief Ambrose Maquinna and fiercely oppose efforts to move him out of the area. The final potlatch for Ambrose Maquinna will be held this fall.

The First Nation have no objections to a "natural reunion" between Luna and his pod, if the whale could be persuaded to swim out of Nootka Sound when L Pod is off the west coast.

CREDIT: Deddeda Stemler, Times Colonist files
May 20, 2004: Luna plays in the wake of the vessel Uchuck, near Gold River.