B.C. killer whale faces relocation

By The Associated Press

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The 5-year-old orca called Luna surfaced right in front of a float plane as it was landing, Marilyn Joyce, marine mammal coordinator for the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, said yesterday.

That was "a dangerous situation for the float plane and the passengers and a dangerous situation for Luna," she said as her department and the Vancouver Aquarium announced they will begin Luna's hoped-for reunion with his U.S. pod on Monday.

Luna, or L-98, has been in Nootka Sound, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, since 2001 after separating from his pod.

He has managed to feed himself but has also taken to socializing with people, cozying up to boats and nuzzling float planes.

The whale at first charmed residents of Gold River and his interactions were encouraged by tourists who tried to pet him at the community pier.

"The last few days, he's been in at the public dock," Joyce said. "We've had incidences of him interfering with fishermen on the beach. We don't think we've got any other choice at this point but to get on with the relocation."

Whale activists and scientists grew more concerned in recent months as reports surfaced of people trying to pour beer down his blow hole or attempting to brush his teeth.

"Originally, he was a novelty and people were coming down to see the whale," Joyce said. "But really, it has been interfering with the day-to-day life in Gold River."

The plan is to entice the orca into following a familiar boat into a net pen, where he will be run through medical tests.

John Nightingale, aquarium president, said if Luna is deemed healthy, he will be coaxed into a sling and lifted by crane into a container that will be placed on the back of a truck.
 
He'll be driven south on Vancouver Island to the Victoria area, where he will be placed in another net pen.

From there, Luna's reunification team will wait for his pod to swim past within acoustic range.

"There's always dangers," Nightingale said. "There are dangers if we leave him where he is — he almost got run over by a float plane a couple days ago. There are lots of dangers in the wild where he is, and he is a danger to people.

"In terms of the operation, yes, there are always risks. I mean, pick a whale up in a sling with a crane, the crane clutch could slip."

The U.S. and Canadian governments have each committed $130,000 to reuniting the whale with his pod.