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Famed killer whale dies in B.C.
Six-year-old orca is sucked into tugboat's propeller in Nootka Sound
JONATHAN WOODWARD
VANCOUVER -- The wild, lonely ride of Luna the killer whale is over.
The boisterous six-year-old, black-and-white orca was well known for trying to find friends among ships plying the waters of Nootka Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
But yesterday, Luna got too close and was sucked into the two-metre-long propeller of an idling tugboat seeking shelter off Bligh Island from a vicious storm.
His death was instant, scientists said.
But environmentalists and a pair of journalists who had tracked the animal said in the five years since Luna had been separated from his family, he had been flirting with disaster.
"We didn't believe it," Mike Parfit said in a phone interview from Gold River, about 350 kilometres northwest of Victoria. "That's what happens when you hear something about a loved one. You don't believe it."
Mr. Parfit and his wife, Suzanne Chisholm, have been following Luna's story since he first appeared off the coast of Gold River in 2001, and Mr. Parfit spent the past two years listening to Luna's calls in his boat.
Luna had been separated from his family, which usually swims off the south coast of Vancouver Island. He quickly made a name for himself, swimming in the wakes of ships, but eventually became notorious for damaging boats and seaplanes.
For the Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nation, he had a spiritual significance: their chief, Ambrose Maquinna, expected to return after death as a killer whale. Just days after Mr. Maquinna died, Luna surfaced.
Scientists tried to reunite the whale with his family in 2004, but their plans were thwarted when the natives took to the waters, luring him far from the pen they had set up.
The Mowachaht-Muchalaht signed a $10,000 deal with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to watch Luna, but only in summer. Mr. Parfit, the journalist, had applied for federal funding to watch the whale, but did not hear back from the department.
In March, when ship traffic is minimal, the only boat looking out for Luna was Mr. Parfit's. Yesterday morning, he was devastated when he heard the news.
"I sat there through the night with speakers in my boat listening to [Luna] call," he said. "He came up to my boat and looked at me. But I wasn't there this morning. It just tears me up.
"All of us were much more afraid of what he would do to people rather than what people would do to him. But he only had one request. He wanted friendship. We left him to his own devices to find that friendship, and it cost him his life."
DFO could have done more to protect Luna, Mr. Parfit said. The name of the book and documentary project was Saving Luna, he added. "That's a darker project now."
Environmental groups said the blame should fall on two groups: the Mowachaht-Muchalaht, who blocked the plan to move Luna to the waters near Victoria, and DFO, which they say did not have a backup plan to save him.
Luna was cut by a propeller only a few months ago, said Ryan Lejbak, chairman of the Reunite Luna Campaign. "They never had a clear plan," he said of the federal department. "They kept pushing it away. These orcas are endangered in Canada and they didn't do their job to protect them."
But moving Luna was a sign of disrespect to the Mowachaht-Muchalaht, said Jamie James, the band's fisheries co-ordinator. The band was trying to protect Luna from a worse fate: living in captivity in an aquarium, he said.
The band is putting together a ceremony to honour the orca, but the chief may have already returned to the spirit world, he added.
John Ford, a DFO scientist, said Nootka Sound is generally a safe place for the whale. "We did all we could to protect Luna," Dr. Ford said. "But it looks like he miscalculated. That's how we got to this tragic outcome."
Mr. Parfit said he remembered an ocean funeral where Luna surfaced through the ashes and flowers. He and his wife, Ms. Chisholm, plan to hold their own ceremony as they enter the second stage of their work.
"It's very possible we'll throw flowers into the sea, and we'll think about Luna coming up and we'll say goodbye."
Famed killer whale dies in B.C.
Six-year-old orca is sucked into tugboat's propeller in Nootka Sound
JONATHAN WOODWARD
VANCOUVER -- The wild, lonely ride of Luna the killer whale is over.
The boisterous six-year-old, black-and-white orca was well known for trying to find friends among ships plying the waters of Nootka Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
But yesterday, Luna got too close and was sucked into the two-metre-long propeller of an idling tugboat seeking shelter off Bligh Island from a vicious storm.
His death was instant, scientists said.
But environmentalists and a pair of journalists who had tracked the animal said in the five years since Luna had been separated from his family, he had been flirting with disaster.
"We didn't believe it," Mike Parfit said in a phone interview from Gold River, about 350 kilometres northwest of Victoria. "That's what happens when you hear something about a loved one. You don't believe it."
Mr. Parfit and his wife, Suzanne Chisholm, have been following Luna's story since he first appeared off the coast of Gold River in 2001, and Mr. Parfit spent the past two years listening to Luna's calls in his boat.
Luna had been separated from his family, which usually swims off the south coast of Vancouver Island. He quickly made a name for himself, swimming in the wakes of ships, but eventually became notorious for damaging boats and seaplanes.
For the Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nation, he had a spiritual significance: their chief, Ambrose Maquinna, expected to return after death as a killer whale. Just days after Mr. Maquinna died, Luna surfaced.
Scientists tried to reunite the whale with his family in 2004, but their plans were thwarted when the natives took to the waters, luring him far from the pen they had set up.
The Mowachaht-Muchalaht signed a $10,000 deal with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to watch Luna, but only in summer. Mr. Parfit, the journalist, had applied for federal funding to watch the whale, but did not hear back from the department.
In March, when ship traffic is minimal, the only boat looking out for Luna was Mr. Parfit's. Yesterday morning, he was devastated when he heard the news.
"I sat there through the night with speakers in my boat listening to [Luna] call," he said. "He came up to my boat and looked at me. But I wasn't there this morning. It just tears me up.
"All of us were much more afraid of what he would do to people rather than what people would do to him. But he only had one request. He wanted friendship. We left him to his own devices to find that friendship, and it cost him his life."
DFO could have done more to protect Luna, Mr. Parfit said. The name of the book and documentary project was Saving Luna, he added. "That's a darker project now."
Environmental groups said the blame should fall on two groups: the Mowachaht-Muchalaht, who blocked the plan to move Luna to the waters near Victoria, and DFO, which they say did not have a backup plan to save him.
Luna was cut by a propeller only a few months ago, said Ryan Lejbak, chairman of the Reunite Luna Campaign. "They never had a clear plan," he said of the federal department. "They kept pushing it away. These orcas are endangered in Canada and they didn't do their job to protect them."
But moving Luna was a sign of disrespect to the Mowachaht-Muchalaht, said Jamie James, the band's fisheries co-ordinator. The band was trying to protect Luna from a worse fate: living in captivity in an aquarium, he said.
The band is putting together a ceremony to honour the orca, but the chief may have already returned to the spirit world, he added.
John Ford, a DFO scientist, said Nootka Sound is generally a safe place for the whale. "We did all we could to protect Luna," Dr. Ford said. "But it looks like he miscalculated. That's how we got to this tragic outcome."
Mr. Parfit said he remembered an ocean funeral where Luna surfaced through the ashes and flowers. He and his wife, Ms. Chisholm, plan to hold their own ceremony as they enter the second stage of their work.
"It's very possible we'll throw flowers into the sea, and we'll think about Luna coming up and we'll say goodbye."