Seattle — Whale activists concerned about the future of a young American killer whale met in Seattle Friday, determined to press government officials on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border to help the orca rejoin the family he last saw more than two years ago.
The problem is that Luna - also known as L-98 for his birth order in L-pod - is drawing growing crowds of tourists to the town of Gold River on remote Nootka Sound, on the west side of Vancouver Island.
"The situation is quite desperate right now," said Mark Pakenham of Victoria, who heads a group working with Canadian officials to monitor the animal - and the humans.
"We had a report (Thursday) that there were more than 100 people on the dock, all trying to touch Luna," Mr. Pakenham said after the meeting.
"That combines with hundreds of vessels in the area - generally for sports fishing, but a lot of those boaters are attempting to get close to Luna."
Canadian fisheries officials decided last spring to leave the four-year-old whale alone and hope he rejoins his family members as they pass nearby. L-pod spends much of the year chasing salmon around Washington's San Juan Islands.
But officials are reviewing that decision due to the worsening situation, said Marilyn Joyce, marine mammal resource co-ordinator for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
"We're aware that interactions between Luna and people in Gold River are increasing," she said, and this week enlisted Pakenham's group, fisheries enforcement officers and the RCMP "to get this situation under control."
Interfering with marine mammals violates Canadian law, with penalties up to $100,000. So far the only person convicted of harassing Luna was fined just $100, but Ms. Joyce said the judge made clear the next penalty would be harsher.
Such contact is "reducing his chances to be a wild whale," she said, and small vessels could be endangered by the five-metre whale.
One Gold River man has compared the whale to "a troublesome bear" that has lost its fear of humans, Mr. Pakenham said.
L-98's pod usually stays in the region until December to February. Activists feel the orca should be moved within 60 days, to give the young animal time to reconnect with the other whales before they head for the open sea.
"This is Canada's call," said spokesman Brian Gorman at the National Marine Fisheries Service in Seattle.
U.S. officials worked with Canada last year to move an orphaned Canadian orca, A-73 or Springer, about 600 kilometres from busy Puget Sound in the Seattle area to rejoin her family on the east side of Vancouver Island.
That intervention was declared a success when Springer returned to those waters last week with her family.
But the two situations are very different.
"With Springer we had a sick animal in a ferry lane who had no chance whatsoever of ever naturally reuniting with her family pod," Mr. Gorman said. "With Luna, we have a relatively healthy animal . . . that could re-establish contact with his family pod."
But Luna may not be welcomed by his family group, Ms. Joyce said.
His mother has a new calf now, and he's missed two years of important bonding and learning experiences. There's more vessel traffic around the San Juans, and he could wind up in worse trouble.
"We don't know why he's apart from his population in the first place . . . if he was kicked out or got lost," she said. "We don't know his odds of rejoining successfully."
Still, Ms. Joyce added: "Certainly, Springer does give us some hope."
