Canada will try to reunite orca with family

SEATTLE — Canada will try to reunite a stray American killer whale with his family, but if no one volunteers to take on the reunion costs and complications, the orca could wind up in a tank.

Few details of the plan to reunite Luna and his family — now salmon-fishing in waters between Washington state and British Columbia — have been officially released.

But Canada’s cover letter on the proposal — sent from the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans to the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service for input — made plain what could happen if Luna does not leave Nootka Sound on the west side of Vancouver Island.

"If no parties come forward with an acceptable proposal to relocate this animal, DFO may have no choice but to seek a captive placement," Paul Sprout, DFO’s associate regional director general, wrote in his Tuesday letter to NMFS’s regional director, Bob Lohn.

NMFS released the letter Wednesday, when DFO confirmed its conclusion that an attempted reunion is the best way to protect the public and the 4-year-old whale, which has been dangerously cozy with boats.

"They’re putting the onus on us to pay for it, with the specter hanging over us that if we can’t come up with the cash, an aquarium can," said activist Michael Harris with Orca Conservancy in Seattle.

The undertaking won’t be cheap. After capture, Luna — also called L-98 for his birth order in U.S.-based L-pod — would be held a week or so in a net pen to ensure he has no communicable diseases that could threaten Washington state’s struggling southern resident population of 82 orcas, DFO spokeswoman Lara Sloan has confirmed.

After that, activists say the proposal calls for shipping Luna via truck or vessel to south Vancouver Island for placement in another net pen — in Canadian waters — until he makes contact with his family. There’s talk of satellite tagging after release to monitor the whale — a pricey proposition.

"They’re going to find the most exotically expensive plan possible and then tell us we have to raise the money to pay for it or he’ll wind up in a cage," grumbled Fred Felleman, also of Orca Conservancy.

He and others fretted that NMFS may not contribute federal funds set aside to help the southern resident killer whales, declared a "depleted species" last year under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

At issue is whether Luna is considered part of that population.

"For purposes of making a determination about depleted species … we did not count Luna," said NMFS spokesman Brian Gorman, contending that would not have made sense since the whale wasn’t with the population last year.

"For biological purposes … I would say he’s an isolated member of the southern resident population and it remains to be seen if he’ll become an integrated member."

Asked about federal funds for Luna’s relatives and other resources for stranded animals, Gorman said, "I don’t know if money’s available."

"Free up some of the money," Harris urged. "We’ll come up with the rest."

NMFS officials were considering the plan outlined by DFO "to see if we’re comfortable with it, and then we’ll see if anyone out there can implement it," Gorman said.

Telephone chats were planned Thursday between NMFS officials and Marilyn Joyce, DFO’s marine mammal resource coordinator, Gorman said.

"Where the money will come from I don’t know. It seems to be the responsibility of the respondent to the proposal," Gorman said.

Whale lovers everywhere were heartened by last year’s successful U.S.-Canadian effort to reunite an orphaned killer whale, who had been struggling to survive in busy Puget Sound, with her relatives in Canadian waters.

That whale, Springer, returned with her pod this summer to fish for salmon east of Vancouver Island, making that experiment — which involved extensive private donations of vessels, fish and expertise — an unqualified success.

Scientists caution that the two situations are different. Luna is older and has been separated from his community almost two years.

"There’s so much we don’t know," Gorman said.

Harris figures humans are the only obstacle.

"No textbook has been written on the return of stray orcas, but we did write a few chapters last year, and what we did learn is there is deficient communication" between U.S. and Canadian officials, he said.

Since last summer, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., has pressed the two governments to work together to help the trans-border orcas. On Wednesday, her office was trying to advance Luna’s reunion.