16-August-2002

Crew: Erin Hobbs & Michelle Kehler

Weather: Beautiful!  Hot and sunny, windy and choppy this afternoon, calm this evening

Crew change today, met Louise and Megan at 1345h in Gold River.  Went over their past five days; data sheet format changed but essentially the information collected is the same, boat is in good condition, the buoy/anchor success vs. the dock, and Luna’s big day out yesterday (Critter Cove).  Apparently after following a sailboat back into his zone, he has remained in his normal “zone” so far.

She (the weather!) was going off this afternoon, some crazy onshore winds made for a rough drive home to Mooyah Bay.  We arrived anticipating Luna’s smiling dolphin face with no such luck……..right away.  Concerned Luna might be at Critter Cove, (not having seen him in the zone), we contacted Cam at Critter Cove by VHF to firstly let him know we were back, and secondly to check Luna’s whereabouts.  Thankfully Cam had not seen him since the day before.  Went to camp, unpacked, introduced ourselves to Nina the new cook at the barge and made up some new data sheets.  Although we are aware Louise and Megan used different data sheets, they did not leave any behind for us to copy so we utilized our same format.

Finally hit the water at 1821h with intentions of getting video of Cam retelling his account of yesterday’s circus show at Critter Cove.  Before we even left Mooyah Bay we approached a boat who was stopped with Luna.  Again the first words out of his mouth were “Can you get him away?!”  It was two men in a recreational boat who had seen Luna surface and decided they should stop- a cautious boater or an opportunist?!  In any case, it was obvious they were uncomfortable and wanted us to engage Luna so they could leave.  We did the speech and handed them the info and did our best to distract Luna the Tuna (our “pet” name of course!).  It took close to 15 miMr.es for that boater to finally escape and we jumped on the opportunity to split the scene almost simultaneously.

At Critter Cove we spoke with Cam and made plans to video both Cam as well as one of the young women who works there tomorrow around lunch time.  Learned an interesting tidbit from the young women who shared that several people had approached her wondering whether our meal times were standard.  She replied that they were random - what a team player!  Apparently they were not pleased by her response.  Just as we had suspected all along, people are seeking out the windows of opportunity to visit with Luna when we do lunch and/or dinner.  Our solution to this is eating lunch here at the barge where we can survey the scene and trying to vary the times at which we eat dinner.  We do feel that one meal at Critter Cove a day is important because we continue to field questions and hand out information both in the restaurant, and at the fueling dock on a daily basis.  It was unusually dead there tonight, we’ve been told “the bite is on.”

On our way back to camp, we spotted from a distance yet another boater stopped with Luna.  You can always tell they are there without binoculars because of the splashing.  As we headed towards them they started up and headed in our direction, (Hanna Channel).  We tagged up with them outside the zone: two guys going fishing who had stopped to snap some pictures of the big friendly beast.  Did the info and speech and as usual they were receptive and agreed to follow the guidelines when transiting the area.

Came into camp, chatted with Bob and Debbie to catch up, and finished our interior design in our oh so cozy room.  Erin especially likes the sewage smell that seeps through the window on her side, although she’s a little unhappy it wasn’t mentioned in the brochure! 

One more thing that may be of interest, we noticed Louise did not enter her data into the excel spreadsheets and concluded she must have plans for this data.  That said, we have also decided against the digital copy for now and will confirm if it is redundant when we speak with Veins of Life Watershed Society next.

Plans for tomorrow?  Well we will be on the water by 0900h, anchored at Conception Point monitoring the scene. 

17-August-2002

Crew: Erin Hobbs & Michelle Kehler

Weather: Blue skies, hot and sunny, little wind

After receiving Veins of Life Watershed Society’s call this morning we have modified our attitude and approach to boaters.  Where we came off really friendly and giving boaters the benefit of the doubt about knowing the Luna situation, we are now more direct and to the point- STAY AWAY FROM THE WHALE! 

We spoke to the first boater in the zone with Luna at 0920h just after dropping anchor at Conception Pt.  It was a sailboat with six spectators, cameras in hand, snapping away.  We gave them the info, video taped them and engaged Luna while they used their engine power to flee the scene.  It took us 15 miMr.es to escape Luna, it is becoming increasingly more difficult.  Just after 1100h we re-entered the scene where two boats were stopped with Luna: both chartered boats.  Apparently Luna had surfaced 100ft off the bow of one boat and so the other was attempting to engage Luna.  We videotaped them and they had much to say including tips on how to get away from Luna (use one boat to lure him away from the other and as he comes over, quickly split the scene).  The man who had stopped to help, Billy, the “Saltwater Cowboy” expressed his opinion that Louise and Megan’s exit from Luna was dangerous and embarrassing.  We tried to share with him the degree of difficulty of escaping Luna without a second boat assisting but he didn’t’ seem sympathetic.  Only half an hour later we were on scene again with a boat that was transiting slowly on their way into the zone from Zuciarte Channel.  Again we videotaped them and this time we altered our response to their inquiry about the camera.  Instead of telling them we were video taping Luna’s behaviour and boater’s responses, we told them it was for prosecuting purposes and they got the idea pretty quickly that we were quite serious.  One more noteworthy contact, we encountered kayakers today- yeah, KAYAKERS!  They were in Hanna Channel headed right for the zone and we intercepted them and expressed our concern for their safety and asked that they avoid the area all together.  They were most appreciative for our concern, knew about Luna and headed back up Hanna Channel.

We headed for Critter Cove for lunch and ended up meeting with Leigh Calvez, a nature writer from Bainbridge Isl., WA who was compiling information on the Springer story.  Apparently she had spoken with Cam last night to try to get a hold of us but we had already left.  Cam picked her up this morning from Cougar Creek and informed us upon our arrival of her existence and desire to speak with us.  We talked over lunch and she had asked if she could come out with us.  Before leaving for anchor we videotaped Janet, (one of the young ladies that works at the fuel dock), detailing her account of Luna’s adventure to Critter Cove.  We’re still hoping to get Cam’s story but as yet have found our schedules to be conflicting.  We spent the afternoon at anchor surveying the scene and approaching boaters as usual. 

Meghan Hanrahan, photo

Something wonderful happened as we sat at anchor with Leigh- Luna began to play.  He played for about three hours solid, splashing around and moving around inside the zone.  We followed his breath trail through binoculars as he ventured further west than we had ever seen him go.  He was just past Anderson Pt. And headed for Zuciarte Ch. when a boat approached from that direction and he turned around and headed slowly back for his zone.

The whole while he played, boats zoomed in and out of the zone, some not as quickly as we would have liked but he seemed preoccupied.  It was great to see- lots of tail slapping and some breaching! 

During the show, a man and his son visiting from California approached us in their six or seven foot zodiac with a 15 Hp engine.  They were aware of Luna as we had already spoken with them during lunch at Critter Cove but we had no idea how small their vessel was!  As we did with the kayakers, we strongly advised against entering the zone and explained our concerns.  They were most appreciative for our information and took us up on our offer to take a look at Luna through the binoculars.   

Dinnertime came and we zipped Leigh back to Cougar Creek.  We wanted to put her in touch with Veins of Life Watershed Society who could lend his expertise and exchanged contact information.  We held our usual press conference at dinner and tried to be consistent with our new firmer attitude making sure to mention the words “video  camera,” “$100,000,” and “Prosecution.”  After dinner we headed back to anchor to survey the scene.

18-August-2002

Crew: Erin Hobbs & Michelle Kehler

Weather:   Morning fog, afternoon mostly blue skies, windy throughout, some chop

Anchored about 900h, the scene remained uneventful all morning. 

We didn’t see Luna until after lunch and really only saw him twice throughout the entire day, each time in the extreme west end of his zone (between Anderson Pt. and Conception Pt.).  The afternoon was quiet as well, we think it was the first day we haven’t had to speak to anybody in the zone with Luna- I think we’re making some progress!

One of the RCMP officers we met a couple weeks ago with Garth stopped by on his way back from Friendly Cove.  We chatted for a bit and he shared an interaction with a fellow who was at Critter Cove when Luna had his big debut there.  The man had said he was in the waters just outside Critter Cove when he felt a bang against his boat- it as Luna!  Unfortunately there wasn’t much else to that story as it wasn’t long after that Louise and Megan attempted to engage Luna.

While at dinner this evening another of the Critter Cove crew informed us that people are very interested in the times at which we eat- disappointing but to be expected I guess.

The evening proved consistent for the day with regards to events, and we headed in around 2030h.

19-August-2002

Crew: Erin Hobbs & Michelle Kehler

Weather: Partly cloudy, calm, rained, windy and then sun (mixed bag)

Luna up close with a sailboat Meghan Hanrahan, photo

Today 62 boats transited the area, seven of whom were stopped with Luna and we spoke with.  The day was very eventful.  We started out with a boater, on scene with Luna, his two-year old toddler clutched under arm.  He was genuinely scared that Luna may tip the boat.

At 1100h the Uchuck III left camp where it was dropping off (or picking up) supplies and headed for Hanna Channel.  Uchuck radioed us to let us know Luna was alongside and we motored along side them through Hanna Channel up to Three-Bay Cove.  We remained in contact with the Uchuck the entire time and decided that they would stop and we would engage Luna as their destination was in fact Galiano Bay.

The "Uchuck III" at the dock Veins of Life Watershed Society , photo

All the way through Hanna Channel Luna put on quite a show bow-riding and breaching alongside the boat’s starboard side. 

It wasn’t difficult to initially engage him long enough for the Uchuck to get going again, but he quickly turned away from us and began milling around just north of Hanna Channel entrance.  It was as if he was completely uninterested in us, (there weren’t any others around thank heavens!), and more so in his new surroundings.  He never headed in one distinct direction but circled around for a bit.We decided we needed to engage him before surrounding boats saw him and came over.  We didn’t have the fender at the time as it was being used as a buoy for our anchor at Conception Pt., so we tried to lure him towards the boat with a life jacket.  He did wander over, but was decidedly more interested in Erin’s arm.  We chose to use this to our advantage and had Erin off the bow with her arm out.  He would bow ride as long as her arm was there, jumping up occasionally to be touched.  We were able to increase speed and although we couldn’t see him at all times, he kept up with the boat.  It took about an hour to get him back to Mooyah Bay and as soon as we got into the bay he resumed his usual behaviour making it extremely difficult to get away from him.  The whole time he was bow riding back he would swim behind us, in front of us and beside us like we were riding together- we wondered if he would follow us west, we think it’s very likely.  We left him in the middle of Mooyah Bay and headed in to the barge for some lunch.  We also made sure to thank the Uchuck for their assistance and assure them Luna had returned to the bay.  We know now that they will be returning through this area between 1400-1500h tomorrow.

Nina, (the current cook of the barge), is quite interested in what we’re doing and is very supportive.  She offered to keep a look out and contact us on Channel 06 should she see someone in the bay - the support team is continually growing.

While back at lunch we discovered some most unfortunate news - Cole, Bob’s deaf American Springer, was hit by a truck. We were most upset and remain in a certain state of denial, even though he had only been “our dog” for 15 days.

Fisheries Officer, Ed Thorburn, checking Luna's health

After lunch we headed out to a boat that was stopped in the zone with Luna by their side.  We were in the midst of giving them the appropriate information, videotaping all the while when, Fisheries Officers, Garth Sinclair and Ed ThorBryne pulled up. Together we successfully coached the boaters away from Luna and headed to anchor to chat.  This was our first meeting with Ed, and a good time to share information about the latest developments on scene. During the information exchange they informed us that they would be asking the captain of the Canadian Coast Guard vessel “Tanu” to anchor elsewhere should they be in the area again. The reason is because their presence in Mooyah Bay attracts boaters curious for a look at such a vessel.

On the subject of the Uchuck, they offered to deliver some Luna sheet handouts to the vessel, which is wonderful as both times we have encountered them it has been difficult to approach due to their wake, and inappropriate timing due to Luna being along side.

This afternoon we spotted a massive yacht headed towards the zone from Zuciarte Channel.  It was as if Luna was anticipating his arrival as he had positioned himself just west of Anderson Pt.  Seeing the potential for an unwanted interaction, we zipped over and spoke with the crew.  Luna was enjoying being alongside the boat that was creating a bow riding opportunity, even at low speed, as we gave the usual speech.  The boat is from the Caymen Islands and the crew mainly from Port Angeles.  They were completely unaware of Luna, (or Springer!), and were very receptive.  We took advantage of the opportunity to speak with them instead of yell when they anchored in the cove just south-west of Conception Pt.  They offered their assistance should we need any and we exchanged contact information so we could be aware of when they leave incase Luna decides on another adventure.

Phew!  It was a big day for us and Luna, sleep is much anticipated.

20-August-2002

Crew: Erin Hobbs & Michelle Kehler

Weather: Began cloudy and calm, afternoon blue skies along with wind

There were over 100 boats that transited through the zone today, five of whom we spoke with.  It was a successful day in that none of the boats we spoke with were stopped with Luna, most were contacted and removed from the scene prior to his arrival and some approached us while at anchor to ask questions.

The Uchuck III came down Hanna Channel at 1150h and exited the bay through Williamson Passage without Luna.  They will be passing through again tomorrow between 1130h and 1430h.

During lunch at Critter Cove we were made aware of a strategic career move we should be making here- we could be in the Guiness Book of World Records as the world’s first wild whale babysitters!  We plan on getting on top of that when we return to civilization.  The gentleman and his wife who suggested this also told us an interesting story about their encounters with Luna.  If memory serves correctly they are from the area and had last visited Luna in mid-July.  They petted him, scratched him all over, and said that he was missing teeth from both the top and the bottom front.  The new teeth could be felt below his gums and apparently he enjoyed the scratching of that area in particular.  Both were wondering how big he and his teeth are now.

After lunch we returned to the zone to find a boat similar looking to that of a crew boat or water taxi called the “Talon” motoring slowly through Mooyah Bay.  Turned out to be three men, all provincial government employees, who were in the midst of conducting bathymetric surveys on the sea bottom.  They have been hired by an Aquaculture company to work on the company’s seven farm site applications.  Because much of their work will be at specific points on the boundary of the zone and up Muchalat Inlet, we decided we had no choice but to let them carry out their transect within the zone and watch from anchor.  They had already met with Luna while working just west of Gore Island and spent about 20 miMr.es trying to escape.  They ended up throwing an apple to distract Luna and then driving away as he went for it.  We agreed they would contact us by radio should they need any assistance with the whale and vowed to be careful while in the zone.  One of our concerns, (and we’re not sure if it is at all valid seeing as we have no formal training or knowledge of this subject), is the frequency with which their sonar is operating at.  Luna didn’t seem to be interested in them despite their slow speed in the center of his zone and we’re wondering if the survey tools are responsible.  We have the contact name for one of the individuals, Terry Neilson, should we need to speak with them further.  They will be in the area until Thursday and we are aware of their schedules so we can be on scene when they are here.

Garth and Ed stopped by again today.  They had spoken with a representative of the Uchuck III to ask them not to slow down as they transit through Mooyah Bay.  The rep. made it clear he had instructed the captain not to stop but agreed to clarify the issue of slowing down.  They also gave him Luna info sheets to carry on board for passengers.  We also spoke with the driver of a local water taxi. Since our arrival we have only seen and spoken with him once as he circled the bay with passengers on board, but both Garth and Ed have made us aware of his resistance to complying with the requests.  They have warned him on more than one occasion and it has come to our attention as well as his that the band to which he belongs does not support his efforts to engage Luna. 

As we were departing Critter Cove this evening a recreational fisherman who was asking about Luna’s pod coming through today stopped us.  Apparently a group of Killer Whales was travelling through the area this morning.  We’re assuming it was transients and plan to chat up Critter Cove tomorrow evening for more details.

Back at anchor this evening a small aluminum boat pulled up with Bruce, Trudy and their dog Cypress on board.  They are locals of the area that live in Three-Bay Cove.  They were very insightful in providing some background information.  According to them Luna has been here for two years.  He spent last summer in Zuciarte Channel and only moved into Mooyah Bay last September.  They used to visit him frequently and anytime they had guests but their last visit was July 5^th, this year when they had kids from Childrens Hospital on board (this was a benefit/charity event hosted by Critter Cove).  They said it was Fred Lazick (not sure of spelling), of Sunkist Charters that first reported Luna’s presence.  They also shared that Luna especially liked Cypress.  During visits when Luna would put his chin on the side of the aluminum boat, Cypress would lick his nose.  Bruce said Luna used to bring wood along side the boat to play with.  Both he and Trudy mentioned the only way to get away from him was to throw a fender attached to a 100 ft. line and then leave as Luna went after it- this way they could be certain he wouldn’t be injured by the propeller.  They likened his behaviour to be much like a puppy dog until the May long weekend, when they first noticed his increasingly assertive mannerisms.  They also attributed his mouth opening behaviour to be due to someone feeding him bait.  As mentioned earlier their last encounter was July 5^th and they were most pleased to see us here (although they would have preferred it sooner).  Before leaving they said there used to be at least five or six boats with Luna at any given time before we arrived!  They were extremely nice and invited us over anytime- we’re thinking we’ll stop by and try to videotape some of the information they relayed today.

21-August-2002

Crew: Erin Hobbs & Michelle Kehler

Weather: Blue skies all day, little wind, mostly calm

Today 80 boats transited through the zone, two of whom we spoke with.  One of the two boats was stopped with Luna first thing this morning and it took almost half an hour for them to get away.  They had come on scene when another boat was engaged with Luna and decided they could watch from a distance.  This choice was made having read the signs at Gold River- we’re thinking the signs need to be modified to read no stopping in Mooyah Bay…..period!  Once the other boat left however, Luna came speeding over to them.  We have experienced this before when Luna decides to B-line it for your boat you don’t know it until he’s there- then it’s too late!  Fortunately they were the only boater stopped with Luna today, the other had stopped by to see us at anchor.  We should also state we continue to speak with boaters during any trip to Critter Cove.

This afternoon Garth and Ed came by to see us.  Still excited about our story from Nootka Sound locals Bruce and Trudy, we shared it with them.  They informed us that Luna has been tracked by Ken Balcolmb and that he has not been here for two years.  These things and more we wish we knew so as to impart to other boaters.  They also shared a story they had been told by a woman in Friendly Cove that she had witnessed Luna’s birth right there in the cove.  All this conflicting information has us questioning if anyone really knows the scoop with this little guy!

In other fantastic news we made a trip up to Bruce and Trudy’s in Three-Bay Cove this evening before dinner- mental note, if ever there was somewhere one would want to rent in the off-season, Bruce and Trudy have the place!  We requested that they share the information they had given us the night before once again so we could videotape it for you guys back home.  They were amenable and we got what we think is some great footage of local knowledge.  To avoid redundancy we won’t repeat everything that was said, rest assured most of it was covered in last night’s journal entry and there will be a great tape floating around.

On our way to Critter Cove we stopped at a suggested point to check out the seals, and also spotted a fair-sized black bear eating a starfish- we giggled that of all the wildlife we see on a daily basis, Luna the whale has taken third place these days to bears and seals!

22-August-2002

Crew: Erin Hobbs & Michelle Kehler

Weather: Blue skies, little wind, calm- PERFECT!

Today 62 boats transited the zone, three of whom we spoke with.  One of these three were actually with Luna and attempted to escape us, as we headed towards them (don’t worry, we caught ‘em!).  One of the other two that we talked to were transiting slowly through the zone but were not with Luna, and the other stopped at our anchor to ask questions.  The former claimed to be having engine troubles but we noticed as we sat outside the zone waiting for them to leave that they seemed to have no troubles attaining full speed capabilities- odd that happens a lot in  Mooyah Bay.

We should also mention that upon our wake this morning, Bob informed us that he heard talk on the radio about orcas spotted again out by Burdwood Pt.  We will be speaking with Veins of Life Watershed Society this evening to check the whereabouts of Luna’s pod; in the meantime we are still operating under the assumption that they are transients.

Speaking of transients, we heard from locals Bruce and Trudy that Luna has eluded their presence twice now.  Apparently when they passed through the zone he snuggled in close to bay and neither party seemed incredibly interested in the other.

Not too much else to say today, pretty uneventful.  We didn’t even see the Tuna until 1945h.  We did, however, see three deer and one seal not but 20 ft. away as we sat at anchor.  We believe we are becoming one with nature, now we just need one of our new friends to help us detach the anchor which is stuck on the sea floor presently- always something to do in Mooyah Bay.

23-August-2002

Crew: Erin Hobbs & Michelle Kehler

Weather: Foggy morning, Bryned off, blue skies and calm water

   Today 85 boats transited the area, 4 of whom we spoke to.

Only one of the four boats that we talked to was with Luna, this boat was a Skiff with a 225 engine on it, odd! The boat had been watching from the eastern boundary (Atrevida Point) when Luna approached them to say hi. About 20 people were on board, mostly kids, they were from Esperanza, Tofino, and Seattle. Although the adults were reluctant to say it, one of the kids spilled the beans that they were here to see Luna. We gave them the speech and the info so we hope to never see them in the zone again-EVER! We would like to take this opportunity to mention that our new Luna-engaging mechanism has proven incredibly effective, one of us hangs over the bow (without touching him) we gradually increase our speed and he rides with us, when he break’s off to the side we then take the opportunity to speed away, using this method we can get away in five miMr.es opposed to twenty.

   We’re going to back track here, this morning Luna was playing with a log, this is noteworthy because for the duration of his play he was oblivious to boaters passing by, even at low speeds.

   No reports of Orcas today just a couple of Humpbacks and some Porpoises on the west coast- off Nootka Sound.

   In other breaking news, every day more and more people are stopping at our anchor to ask questions, and encourage/support us. Over the last few days we’ve had at least two separate parties tell us that the signs at the Marinas and the Campgrounds are very effective. No wild animal encounters today just Luna.

More backtracking…

Today was a circus in the zone!  We spoke with the boaters who were either stopped in the zone, hovering just outside the zone, or already interacting with The Big Tuna.  We finally got the opportunity to utilize the bullhorn, which proved to be relatively ineffective given the motor noise we were competing with. 

Our most noteworthy contestant today was a recreational boater, looked to be a father and daughter who we noticed were zigzagging around Atrevida Pt.  From anchor we used the binoculars to see what they were upped to.  From our perspective there was no Luna in sight and the boat seemed to be headed for Gold River when we lost sight of it in Williamson Passage.

M3 Crew stopped for a break at Critter Cove

We headed back from lunch only to find what appeared to be the same boat, still putting around Atrevida Pt.  Now Erin and I have adopted this theory that we’re not out here to ensure no one sees this beautiful, awe-inspiring animal, but rather to ensure no one interacts with him for his own safety.  So we don’t have a problem with boaters remaining outside the zone, much like us when we’re at anchor, and using their binoculars.  We have never experienced this to be a problem when boaters allow for a reasonable buffer outside the Luna zone.  With this in mind we decided to go see what this boat was up to anyhow and at least let them know we were there and pass on the appropriate info.  Turns out they had been trying to get away from Luna for an hour!  This was disheartening and interesting at the same time.  Feeling like failures and amazed simultaneously that Luna had ventured east of Atrevida Pt.- it seems his zone isn’t as tightly defined as we had thought it was.  Once again we used our new “arm over the bow technique” to quickly engage Luna so the boaters could go on their way.  We were glad however, to learn neither boater was afraid, as some have been, nor were they irritated by they’re time spent with Luna. 

The next most noteworthy boater was two gentlemen dumping their toilet in the middle of the zone- we were not impressed.  To augment our growing appreciation for these two particular fellows, they chipped in that they had seen us around Critter Cove and asked “Oh is that whale still here?”  I tell you there’s only been a few boaters so far that we could have thrown in the drink but these guys were climbing the list rapidly! 

Just before dinner we had a sailboat transiting the shoreline from Zuciarte Channel up past our anchor and what looked to be over to Atrevida Pt.  As the boat titled “Pops-Sea-Cal” (a name Louise accurately pointed out should get this guy a ticket on its own!), went cruising past our anchor I asked the elderly man if he was aware of Luna in this area.  His response came with an edge we didn’t much appreciate: “Yeah we’ve been dealing with him for 12 months now!”  Because he was transiting the shoreline, was obviously a local and was aware of the situation we assumed he would go on around the outer boundary and head home for Gold River.  Not but three miMr.es later there he is in the middle of the zone.  Now I don’t know much about sailboats but I found it odd that he was whipping along quite fine thank you very much and then came to a stop.  Instantly Erin and I jumped into action and headed out to do the speech etc.  Here comes the really unfortunate part of the story, our digital video camera had just died an hour or so earlier so all we have of this incident is our word and written information including boat license etc.  Part way through my speech this man interrupts me to counter that there was no wind and he couldn’t do anything about that.  He went onto protest that he didn’t have his motor on and his guests and himself weren’t going to touch the whale so what was the big deal.  I explained to him that motor or no motor, touching or no touching, it is not in Luna’s best interest for any interaction whatsoever, that these rules applied to all boaters, locals or otherwise and then asked him to use his motor to remove himself from the area.  By this time Luna was onto the whole commotion which compounded the urgency we felt to get this guy out of here (if any boater goes by at this point and catches a glimpse of us with another boater who’s with the whale, we’ve instantly added another interaction).  He reluctantly agreed to use his motor and putted away.

After dinner we discovered we had boat troubles.  I was attempting to pull away from the dock, arranged in a U-shape where we were parked this particular time, as we had both done 30 times before.  Of course it had to be the night when Critter Cove was having their staff party so everyone was outside watching what was about to take place.  I threw her into gear, forward of course and discovered we went in reverse, panicked I popped the throttle into neutral and we continued to go into reverse!  At this point we were headed for the dock so I shut her down and floated back into safety.  Turns out we have some sort of linkage problem from the throttle case to one of the motors so were able to put home using our remaining good motor- what kind of summer adventure would it be if we didn’t have boat troubles!  We’re not looking forward to sharing this with Veins of Life Watershed Society, simply because we know this will keep him up all night for sure- that man needs a day off!

24-August-2002

Crew: Erin Hobbs & Michelle Kehler

Weather: Cloudy, overcast, calm and relatively warm

It’s crew change day and I am terribly sad to be leaving.  I said my good-bye’s to the Tuna yesterday in case we do not see him this morning.  We wanted to mention a few more things we’re not sure we covered in text over the last 10 days. 

First the “arm over the bow” technique; through experimentation I noticed if your arm is pointed downwards Luna will push up against the hull of the boat, as if he is stretching to be touched.  If you place your arm out over the boat, parallel to the water he will generally swim with us.  We truly feel he loves swimming along side boats more than anything- we expect it is something he really misses since being on his own and we’re sure we could take him anywhere with us.  It’s amazing to watch him off the bow as we increase our speed to encourage him to break off and porpoise along the side he swims belly up looking at you from below.

Since we’ve first been up here both Erin and I have noticed he has gotten bigger.  We also agree his saddle patch has become more distinct in coloration. 

There have been times throughout our 20 days with him that he has had paint on his chin from rubbing against boats and it’s still a sight we still haven’t become accustomed to.  He also has a distinct dent just above his eye, towards his mouth.  It is about two inches in length, approximately an inch in width and was first noticed this trip up. 

His personality is extremely playful and we think he’s a bit of a joker.  He is constantly blowing fishy-smelling air in our faces without warning and the other day he actually spat at Erin.  I had to give my head a shake because it looked like a rehearsed trick from Sea World as he spy-hopped alongside the boat and sprayed water through the openings between his teeth.

Erin was drenched and I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt.  From what we have seen out here trainers at aquariums don’t train whales, whales train the trainers.

Since reading an excellent book on whale and dolphin consciousness Erin and I have been exercising our telepathic communication with Luna.  It took some prying but Luna has confided in us that he does not like his name as he feels it has too commonly mistaken “him” to be a “her.”  We assured him we would pass that on to the powers that be and see what they could do about that.

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