VANCOUVER, B.C. — If the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans does decide to move a stray orca from the waters off Vancouver Island, it will farm out both the costs and the relocation work.
The department hasn’t decided yet whether to reunite Luna, also known as L-98, with his U.S.-based pod, spokeswoman Lara Sloan said Tuesday.
But if the agency does go ahead, it will ask outside groups to move the orca, she said.
"DFO will be accepting applications for a scientific license to make the move," Sloan said.
A U.S. official said he has heard from the Canadian department that the process would essentially put the whale’s intervention in someone else’s hands.
"I think DFO is at the stage where it’s about to either release a request for proposals from outside organizations or maybe just before that to run this idea past us to make sure we’re comfortable with it," said Brian Gorman, a Seattle spokesman for the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service.
It will take plenty of expertise and money to connect the 4-year-old whale with his American pod, said Gorman, adding there is no guarantee that organizations will be eager to respond.
Still, the Vancouver Aquarium is collecting donations for Luna’s intervention, and the facility will consider submitting a proposal, spokeswoman Angela Nielsen said.
The aquarium played a major role in transferring Springer, an orphaned orca, from U.S. waters to her Canadian pod last year.
Luna is considered a nuisance animal that has bothered boaters and socialized with people near Gold River, a town on the eastern shore of Nootka Sound, for almost two years.
There are obvious time constraints to moving the whale, Sloan told the Vancouver Province newspaper on Tuesday.
The Province reported that Luna could be moved within a month, provided scientists can find him. The whale hasn’t been spotted in several weeks.
"L-pod is usually around until December or sometimes as late as January, so we are working as quickly as we can," Sloan said. "If L-98 doesn’t reunite with its pod, we need a contingency plan to deal with that possibility."
A scientific panel recommended earlier this month that Luna be reunited with his pod, which makes its summer home near the San Juan Islands.
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