It's hardly black and white

Toni Frohoff, a research scientist in Washington state, says extensive studies with solitary dolphins and beluga whales underscore the dire reality of Luna's situation. "The closer the contact that sociable marine mammals have with people, the more likely they are to be injured or even killed by them. Some people will take advantage of a situation in which the animals have learned to trust humans and abuse that trust."

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has been deluged with thousands of e-mails demanding that something be done. Research scientists from nongovernmental organizations and whale advocacy groups rallied in support of reuniting the whale with its pod and mother, known to spend much of the year swimming between Puget Sound and the waters off Vancouver Island. To address the problem, the DFO convened a scientific panel to consider the ultimate dilemma: whether or not to intervene in nature.

In spring 2004, the DFO and the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service jointly unveiled an "action plan" to capture Luna and release him in the waters off Victoria when his pod was thought to be nearby. Because Luna had been separated from orcas and habituated to people for so long, the DFO's Ford says the plan carried inherent risks. "If he failed to reunite, which was a significant probability, what next?" The contingencies were either placing the orca in an aquarium or, if he posed a serious threat to public safety, having to kill him.

The indigenous Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation band, which has inhabited the area for thousands of years, vehemently objected to the plan. Tribal leaders believe the whale is the reincarnated spirit of their grand chief, who died a week before Luna first appeared in Nootka. Before his death, Ambrose Macquinna reportedly said that he wished to return as a "kakawin," a killer whale.

Having consulted several marine mammal experts, the tribe contended the relocation attempt was disrespectful and dangerous to the whale. And because some of the experts overseeing the capture were from various marine aquariums, including Vancouver's, the tribe concluded that Luna was likely bound for permanent captivity.

That June, DFO boats were herding Luna into a net pen when members of the tribe paddled out in wooden canoes to prevent the capture. The ensuing struggle between marine mammal experts and Nootka's indigenous people lasted nine days, until Luna was eventually led into the pen. Johnson was one of the paddlers and recalls the event.