Canada pledges money to return Luna to pod

Canada will match the money pledged by the U.S. government to reunite the wayward orca Luna with his whale family -- but the move will be delayed until spring, Canadian officials said yesterday.

Fisheries and Oceans Minister Robert Thibault said his government will contribute $135,000 Canadian to the effort, the equivalent of about $103,000 U.S. Earlier this week, the American government announced that it would spend $100,000.

Thibault pledged to work closely with the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service to come up with a new plan for reuniting Luna with his pod.

Luna has been in Nootka Sound, along the west coast of Vancouver Island, since he became separated from his pod more than two years ago. Authorities had hoped he would rejoin the other whales on his own, but he has not.

Instead, he has grown increasingly aggressive in his interaction with boats, posing risks to both himself and people. After consulting with experts, Canada decided earlier this month to attempt to move the whale and put him in a place where he could easily rejoin the L pod, one of the three whale families that spend a lot of time around the San Juan Islands.

Although some orca-advocacy groups had been pressing for quick action, Canadian officials said Luna, also known as L-98, will have a better chance of reuniting with the pod in the spring, a season when his pod sometimes swims near the mouth of Nootka Sound.

"The exact timing will really depend on us sitting down with the National Marine Fisheries Service and determining what a revised plan would look like," said Marilyn Joyce, marine mammal coordinator for Fisheries and Oceans Canada. "We want to see the relocation occur. We want it to be at a time that we believe gives L-98 the best opportunity to reunite with his pod."

As fall slips into winter, though, "the odds of L-98 meeting up with L pod become slimmer and slimmer," she said. "It's about weighing the odds and the risks and trying to maximize the opportunity for success."

Luna's pod leaves the waters around the San Juan Islands, about 200 miles southeast of Nootka Sound, for parts unknown in the winter and returns in the spring. Some activists have expressed concern about moving the whale in the winter.

"Rushing relocation at this time presents a very uncertain outcome," said John Ford, head marine mammal scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Pacific Region.

"It's gale force and above out there. This is not the time," said Ken Balcomb with the Center for Whale Research in the San Juans. But he added, "It's too bad this has dragged on as long as it has."

Fred Felleman of the Orca Conservancy said he hopes the time will be used to assess Luna's health, consult with local tribes about the undertaking and enlist U.S. Navy help in tracking Luna's family over the winter.

"Today is the first day the two countries are really talking as peers, with both putting financial resources on the table and committing their resources to it, which is a very good thing," Felleman said.

GET INVOLVED

State officials yesterday invited public comment on a proposal to add orcas to the state's list of endangered animals.

Federal officials last year refused to extend the protections of the stronger federal Endangered Species Act to the orcas. Instead, they are pursuing protection for the animals under the less-stringent Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Members of the public who want to comment on the state proposal can write to Harriet Allen, Wildlife Program, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 600 Capitol Way N., Olympia, WA 98501-1091. Comments are due by Feb. 3. They will be considered when the state Fish and Wildlife Commission meets April 2-3 in Spokane to take action on the proposal to extend state protection to the animals.

P-I reporter Robert McClure contributed to this report.

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