The interaction between blackfish (often called Orcas or Killerwhales) and humans can sometimes have tragic results for the blackfish. The story of Luna is such an example. Environmental writer, Robin Ferruggia, does a nice job reviewing the story and presenting the central issues. It’s worth a read.
When journalists Mike Parfit and Suzanne Chisholm arrived at Nootka Sound, a remote inlet on the west coast of Vancouver, in March of 2004 to do a brief story on a lost baby whale named Luna, they didn’t realize he was going to change their lives.
Luna became separated from his pod in the summer of 2001 when he left his mother’s side to follow his uncle. Nobody knows what happened to the older whale, but without him to guide him back, Luna became lost. He was first sighted in Nootka Sound in July 2001.
The L-pod, as it was known, is an endangered group of whales. Their numbers are growing smaller. One of the most significant risks to this pod is that their primary food source, Chinook salmon, is being contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from agriculture, pulp mills, other industries, military bases and urban runoff, according to an article in the Vancouver Sun dated Nov. 26, 2008. (Continue reading, click Saving Luna?)