$150,000 more needed in effort to aid orca

By Nguyen Huy Vu
Seattle Times staff reporter

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Luna, or L98, appeared in Canada's Nootka Sound, on the west side of Vancouver Island, after separating from his pod in 2001.

Marilyn Joyce, marine-mammal coordinator for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, said she was "optimistic" that Luna could successfully be reintroduced by summer but expressed concerns last night at a public hearing at the Seattle Aquarium.

"We're at a critical junction," she said. "We may not be able to proceed here, and I would hate not to have the money lined up."

The U.S. and Canadian governments have been cooperating to reunite the 4-year-old orca by next month with his family, L-pod, which spends much of the year near the San Juan Islands.

Fisheries officials will try to lead the whale out of Nootka Sound next month to the Strait of Juan de Fuca just as his pod is passing through.

The decision to move Luna was made after he began approaching boats, docks and seaplanes, prompting safety concerns.

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and Fisheries and Oceans Canada have each pledged $100,000 toward the effort. Officials estimated last night the entire cost of the move and monitoring Luna will cost around $350,000.

Fisheries officials said if Luna is not able to reunite with his family, they plan to get the orca to swim into a net enclosure, have veterinarians check for diseases and release him near southern Vancouver Island by truck.

Bill Arntz, director of the Seattle Aquarium, thinks Luna will end up like Springer, the orphaned Canadian female orca who turned up off Vashon Island in early 2002. She was safely transported to the north of Vancouver Island and released to her native clan in July 2003.

"If you can hit a home run once, you can hit a home run twice," he said.

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report. Nguyen Huy Vu: 206-464-3292

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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