EXPERT OPINIONS

Michael Harris - David T. Suzuki - Howard Garrett - Dr. Paul Spong
Expert Quotes

Michael Harris
President, Orca Conservancy
August 15, 2003

For over two years now, Orca Conservancy has had a great interest in the matter of the wayward orca Luna, also known as "L98" or "Cuuxiit," a key member of the endangered Southern Resident Community of orcas who is now alone in Nootka Sound. We have repeatedly urged the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada [DFO] to move immediately to explore the feasibility of repatriating this orca into his natal pod, and we've worked with dedicated people like Marc Pakenham of Veins of Life and Dr. Paul Spong of OrcaLab to pull together a coalition of experienced organizations and individuals to do all we can to support the efforts to do so. When we first got involved, the situation was a concern; over the last several months, it has become a crisis. As we've seen, Luna is in dire trouble. Like A73 [or "Springer"] in Puget Sound, this orca's unnatural social deprivation has led him to increasingly seek out interactions with boats, and with each incident Luna becomes critically sociable with humans. Conversely, humans have been aggressively [and illegally] pursuing contact with him, despite the tireless efforts of the Marine Mammal Monitoring Program ["M3"] and others -- including now members of the Nuu-chah-nulth-aht People -- to protect him. The situation has become untenable, a circus of sorts, and it's not Luna's fault. Nor is it his preference to be a sideshow. As we've said over and over again in the media, we know that if you give these orcas a choice between humans and other orcas, they'll choose orcas every time. Without his family, he's just looking for love in all the wrong places.

These daily human interactions not only are compromising Luna's chances of returning to his mother L67 and family, they also are compromising the spirit that resides in this remarkable creature. In our advocacy, Orca Conservancy has been very outspoken about the biological importance of returning Luna to the troubled Southern Residents, but we also understand that this orca means a lot more than just an individual member of a population - he is in fact a soul, a sentient being dislocated from the village of Killer Whale People, quite possibly through the actions of humans. He has a mother, siblings, an entire community that truly needs him now. And we strongly believe and have from the very beginning of this crisis that the First Nations, the extended family of these killer whales, should play a central role in helping him return to his home.

With the Nuu-chah-nulth-aht's participation and our collective experiences in the successful translocation and repatriation of Springer, there is no doubt that we can move quickly, materially and with extraordinary expertise in responding to the Luna crisis. As we made it known to DFO last August, we stand by prepared and able to assist in any of the planning aspects of this operation, sourcing the in-kind support critical to this translocation and repatriation, and to secure the necessary funds for this operation. We've done it before and we'll do it again. Unlike the orphaned Springer, Luna has an intact matriline, a living and nurturing mother and family that we know from 30 years of studies on this population will quickly accept him back into the community. Luna's health is not as much an issue as Springer's, and the repatriation could be done through means as simple, non-invasive and inexpensive as a boat follow back home. Once Springer was given the chance to hear her relatives again in Johnstone Strait, we could hardly keep her from jumping out of the seapen and into the pod. She exploded with calls. She wanted to go home. The rescue team released her, but the decision clearly was hers. We know that Luna will do the same.

During the Springer project, our organizations recognized that the success of our efforts were wholly dependent on the active participation of the First Nations of the region. Orca Conservancy and OrcaLab took the lead in establishing a critical partnership with the Namgis People, first in securing their blessing to use Dongchong Bay on Hanson Island as the repatriation site, and then culling the expert fishermen of the band to catch the wild salmon that fed Springer in the brief time she spent in the bay awaiting her family. The beautiful welcome ceremony conducted by the native people at Dongchong was for many of us a highlight of the entire project.

Again, from a biological perspective, the opportunity presented us here is extraordinary, to restore one key member to an endangered population of 83 critically short of breeding-age males. As with our success last year in bringing one young orca back to a threatened Northern Resident Community of 215, we have a very real chance here of achieving quantifiable recovery, to ensure that future generations will be given the remarkable experience of living amongst the Killer Whale People. For all of our determined efforts to protect critical habitats, fight bioaccumulative marine toxins, stop destructive industries like aquaculture, and to reduce the risk of oil spills in the Sound and Straits, our collaborative efforts here to return this healthy young orca back to L-Pod will yield immediate and measurable results. And as with the Springer effort, it will inspire people around the world to become more involved in protecting orcas and the wild places on which they depend. We have a real chance here to once again return a lost soul to a village that in the last century has been imparted so much harm.

Thanks to all of you for your work on behalf of Luna!

Michael Harris
President, Orca Conservancy
Seattle m. (206) 465-6692

Orca Conservancy
PO Box 1593
Friday Harbor, WA 98250
www.orcaconservancy.org