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25-August-2002 Crew: Louise Murgatroyd and Meghan Hanrahan We arrived at Gold River just after twelve;
Erin and Michelle pulled up shortly thereafter. Having learned the previous evening that the port engine on the
patrol vessel (Luna Sea) was not shifting into gear properly, Veins of Life Watershed Society immediately
set about inspecting and adjusting the linkage, but to no avail. Alas, forward gear would have to be set manually
until he could get back to Victoria to consult with a mechanic. With the afternoon sea breezes kicking in along
Muchalat Inlet, we got the briefing on the previous week’s activities
and were on our way. Passing through the zone on our way for much-need
clubhouse sandwiches, we both craned our neck for a welcome sign
from L98, but our silent hellos went unanswered – as did our appetites
as Critter Cove had, that very day, shut down between 1200 and 1600!
A healthy dose (2!) of seafood chowder hit the spot for me
and Meghan was satisfied by some peppermint tea to warm her after
the ride. We pondered the disappearance of the 35+C.
degree weather that we had enjoyed our first week here but were
cheered by the continued presence of the sun.
After lunch we headed strait for “The Spot”
– our perfect vantage site at Conception Point that allows for excellent
views of the zone and all its access points entrances to the zone,
while affording us some protection with a healthy dose of stealth
as many unsuspecting boaters are unable to see the vessel against
the backdrop of the Bligh Island. We “assumed the position” and marveled, as
we had done so frequently during our first week, at the beauty around
us. We spoke to the sailing vessel “Pop-Sea-Cal”
about not sailing through the center of the zone. We know that the skipper has been spoken to on two previous occasions
but he still exhibited confusion over what he was being asked to
do, i.e. motor through the area staying as close to shore as possible. The sailboat issue is not as straightforward
as they certainly do not have the speed to disengage Luna however
the notion of transiting the zone under sail instead of power certainly
is appealing. More on this later. 26-August Crew: Louise Murgatroyd and Meghan Hanrahan
The Uchuk, or Upchuck as we fondly refer to
it, passed through the zone during the morning but we saw no sign
of Luna, which was a relief. In
the afternoon we kept a watchful eye on a sailing vessel that was
transiting fairly close to shore with a full Genoa.
We were unsure as to whether he was also under power, nor
could we see L98 at first. However, as he approached Hannah Channel we
saw the whale and approached the vessel.
It was one to whom we had spoken before spoke to a sailing
vessel that we had spoken to before.
Luna was following him into Hannah Channel and we were concerned
that he’d follow the vessel back out to Tulapana Inlet again.
They were very co-operative and offered to
stop or turn around to get Luna to follow back into the zone. Before this could happen another small zodiac
approached for a good look and Luna engaged them. We gave them a fairly stern spiel and they
said they’d just arrived from Tahsis and did not know anything about
the whale. As we asked them
to leave the helmsman was still snapping photos.
We had to coach through disengaging at which point Luna swam
to us, and one of the women on board accused us of harassing the
whale more than they were. We need to see what information is in Tahsis.
Also, the problem with sailing vessels arose again.
We asked this sailing vessel to transit under power as close
to shore as possible, which they did later in the afternoon with
no sign of Luna. Must ponder sailboat issue further. It’s not worth going in to try to pull L98 away because he will
most likely swim back to the sailboat.
Perhaps it’s better to let him run his course with these
boats. While at anchor in the afternoon, one vessel
approached us to tell us that Luna had jumped up in front of his
boat that morning – this may be a new tactic by Luna to get boats
to stop (more later) he also suggested that we try leading Luna
out into the open to see if he could hear/connect with his pod.
A cute guy in a whaler stopped to offer assistance because
he thought we were beached. His
vessel was called “Smoking” – need we say more.
This, unfortunately, was the one that got away.
Shortly, thereafter Ray Williams, along with his wife and
grandchildren, one of whom is named for the sea otter, stopped by
to say hello. We asked if we could switch on the video as
he spoke to us – he had no problem with that.
Ray saved our day. He
had some fantastic insight, wonderful stories and tons of support
for what we are doing and just the right words to express it.
He told us that his people definitely believe that the whale
should be left alone. We’d
like to spend some more time with him.
It’s what you need after a stressful morning of asserting
authority about which you are uncertain.
The afternoon ended with us coaching a vessel,
which had stopped to change a fuel tank, away from the whale. We really deliberate over giving people the
benefit of the doubt. Meghan
has noticed that despite the use of the video camera, people do
not appear to be stumbling over their stories as if they were making
them up. One wants to believe that people are telling
the truth, and yet one is constantly disappointed by other behaviours
that suggest that there is little regard for the welfare of the
whale. Finally, on the way back from dinner at Critter
Cover, we happened upon a Coast Guard vessel, with the lighthouse
keepers, Pat and Ed from the Nootka Light Station at Friendly Cover. On board were two younger people, possibly
a daughter and son-in-law to whom we were not introduced. The “son-in-law” had a honking big and very
professional looking video camera.
They also expressed some confusion over what they were allowed
to do. They were drifting on western edge of the zone
obviously waiting for Luna, and said they their understanding was
that they could not touch or pet Luna but that they could watch
him. We set them straight, much to the chagrin of
the camera-wielding male passenger.
When we told him that we hoped to reunite Luna with his pod
outside of Victoria he snapped back with: “so he can be harassed
by the whale watchers there”. While
the point is valid, we still feel unequivocally that L98 would be
better off with his pod. We also suspected that he was rather more irate
that at not being able to get his shots.
A friendly conversation with Pat and Ed ensued and they offered
to display our leaflets at their kiosk.
27-August-2002 Crew: Louise Murgatroyd and Meghan Hanrahan We got up rather later than usual as I had
forgotten to set my alarm but I think we got some much-needed extra
sleep. The dodgy shifter mechanism is making maneuvering
very tricky and we’re looking forward to meeting up with Veins of Life Watershed Society in
Gold River today to fix it. We
arrived on scene shortly after 1000 to find another couple with
L98. They told us that he had jumped up in front
of the boat and they had stopped for fear of hitting him. This indeed presents a new challenge as this
is a natural reaction and unfortunately they end up with the very
thing they were trying to avoid.
We coached them away and captured the whole thing on what
should prove to be an interesting video clip. We made arrangements to stay at Critter Cove
and then headed off to Gold River to meet for repairs – yeah!! On
the way through the zone we stopped to talk to a private marine
survey vessel conducting bathymetric surveys off Atrevida Point. They plan to survey a significant portion of the zone using high-powered
sonar. We explained the
Luna situation to them and warned them to anticipate problems conducting
their survey. As we were
pressed for time, we explained to them how to disengage the whale
if need be and told them we'll be back in the afternoon if they
needed to get in touch with us. We also advised them that it would most likely
be necessary to have their head office speak with Veins of Life Watershed Society to find out
whether the work could proceed. We got to Gold River at 1240 and Veins of Life Watershed Society arrived
shortly thereafter. It turns
out it was simply the shifter cable and we had that replaced in
no time – a great relief as a new throttle box was rather $$$ and
more complicated. We went into Gold River to buy some groceries
since we will no longer be raiding the barge. Also bought new sunglasses at the superMr.et
as I managed to lose mine overboard and followed that by proceeding
to lose the extra-though-missing-one-arm pair that Meghan had leant
me. The sunglasses gods are not smiling on me today. Before we left Gold River, we spoke to Brenda,
a First Nations lady fisher who informed us that sockeye runs were
low this year and that she believed the fish were not coming down
because of Luna’s appetite. Although
we are unsure as to which fishery she was referring, she said that
it had been closed even to the First Nations, which seemed to be
quite significant. She also gave us contact information for the son of Chief Ambrose
Maquinna, whose death last year coincided with the arrival of Luna.
We also spoke to the captain and some of the
crewmembers of the Uchuk about obtaining copies of their logs on
Luna and asked them to deliver some flyers to the marina.
They gave us some information on Luna’s behaviour around
them over the past few months and also offered their crane lifting
services, should Luna be moved in the near future. On the way home we thought we saw Luna splashing
approximately one half to three quarters of a mile east of Atrevida
Point, but were unsure. We
haven’t seen him range this far on our watch. We shifted camp to Critter Cove this evening. 28-August Crew: Louise Murgatroyd and Meghan Hanrahan Woke up after a great sleep. Cam told us he’d received a VHF call at about
0730 from a boater in a whaler who had engaged Luna and was calling
for advice/assistance – Cam gave him some advice and didn’t hear
from him again. We got on
scene at about 0930. At
around 1100 we heard tail slapping on the eastern side of the zone
very close to shore and found through the binoculars that the marine
surveyors were at work. As we approached they were leaving the area
so we stopped and had a chat near Atrevida Point. We asked them how it was going and they said they’d been unable
to perform their operations because of Luna.
They described some fairly disturbing behaviour from Luna
that they correlated with the use of their high-powered sonar. They said that they had been working fairly close to shore without
the sonar, and had not seen Luna.
However, as soon it was used, Luna came right over, exhibiting
behaviours tail-slapping, pectoral fin splashing towards the boat,
tail-slapping towards the boat.
They said they felt that Luna was behaving aggressively towards
the transducer. Luna had come face to face with it at one stage
and swam under the boat at one stage also. During our conversation we noticed Luna approaching so we relocated
further down Williamson Passage.
We essentially asked them to continue their work at their
other sites until we could sort out whether the work would continue
in the zone. Given that Luna was such a hindrance we all
felt that it would not be able to go on.
We gave them Veins of Life Watershed Society’s information and said that they might
also need to speak with the Fisheries officers.
We relocated again as Luna was following us down the passage. Fortunately, the Uchuk provided a distraction
and we radioed them to let them know Luna was ahead. We also asked them to let us know if Luna followed
them out of the zone. The
Uchuk radioed shortly after to say that Luna was indeed following
them down Hanna Channel so we went to check it out. On our way through the Channel, the Uchuk informed
us that Luna had disengaged and was heading towards Camel Rocks. We remained in the area looking for Luna but
finding nothing returned to the Spot.
Over lunch at Critter Cove, Garth and Ed arrived,
seeking doMr.s and coffee in true, fishery officer form! We had an excellent discussion with them over
recent events and future strategies and shared a variety of experiences.
It was the first time we’d really had a chance to speak to
them in depth since we’d been up and they helped to sort out some
of the truth behind many of the stories about Luna that we had been
hearing. Meanwhile, back at the Spot, Teresa radioed
just before 1700 from Argodillo III to say that Luna was over in
Tlupana Channel which explained his absence from the zone all afternoon. We zoomed around the corner to find Luna engaged
in some serious rubbing of his underside. He would not come over to our boat, so we enacted a new strategy,
which was to tie a fender off the port bow to which Luna responded
favourably. In this way,
we were able to motor slowly back to the zone keeping Luna with
us the entire way. He exhibited a host of behaviours, including
biting the fender, porpoising, tail slapping, lots of vocalizations,
lifting the boat, swimming in front of the boat and riding the stern
wave. The most entertaining however, was the complete
soaking of Meghan in the bow as Luna breached next to the boat a
number of times. We got Luna successfully back to the zone and
hung around the spot for a while longer to see if he stayed. Note to all: Hanna Channel is, sadly, not a
palindrome. 29-August Crew: Louise Murgatroyd and Meghan Hanrahan 30-August Crew: Louise Murgatroyd and Meghan Hanrahan This morning began with a fifty-foot cabin
cruiser that looked as though they were headed out Zuciarte but
then changed course towards the zone and towards where we had seen
Luna active at the surface. As
they were motoring with three fenders at water level we were concerned
that this would provide extra incentive.
We radioed them to find out what their plans were and were
told that they wished to see the whale. We soon set them straight, had them lift their
fenders and watched them motor away down Zuciarte. They returned about an hour later to transit
the zone as we had instructed them previously.
When we saw them slow down we again radioed and instructed
them to maintain their speed even though L98 was riding their stern
wave. Luna disengaged by himself a few hundred meters
into Williamson Passage, which is interesting considering that he
will go all the way through Hanna Channel.
We had lunch at the logging camp so we could
discuss the issue of billing with Stan and to give Debbie’s kids
the boat ride we had promised.
They were disappointed to learn that we would not in fact
be going whale watching, but they were excited nonetheless.
When we got to the dock, we spied a vessel
with Luna, so we left the kids there and went out to investigate
a vessel with a couple on board. This proved to be our most difficult
disengagement yet. L98 was not interested in us or the fender. The driver suggested that perhaps this was
due to his bottom being black.
We eventually had them motor away on their auxiliary outboard
at slow speed. We accompanied the vessel into Williamson Passage
with the fender down. Luna
breached by our side with greater vigor than in the past and followed
us back towards the zone with a degree of strength that we hadn’t
witnessed before. We rather
disheartened to learn later from a passerby, that the operator was
in fact a fishing guide who’d been working in the area all summer
and that he thought he saw the couple on board rubbing Luna.
We returned to the logging camp and drove Donna
and D over to Critter cove where I tried to reach Veins of Life Watershed Society by telephone. We dropped the kids back off at the camp and
resumed watch. Just after
four a small aluminum dingy entered the zone and motored over to
Mooyah Bay where they lingered momentarily before re-entering the
zone. We saw the tell tale slowing of the vessel and sped over only to
find a man and four young teenage boys petting L98. We read them the riot act and they claimed not to know anything
of the situation. The man
driving was rather vague about answering some of our questions and
one of the boys touched L98 once again after being informed that
this was a violation of the federal Fisheries Act.
We coached them away from Luna and re-intercepted them in
Hanna Channel to give them the flyer and to obtain more information.
The driver refused to give us his full name or specifics
as to where they were going. Not being able to do much else, we left them
to proceed and sped over to Critter Cove to ask Cam to phone Ed
and Garth and to reach us on the radio as we followed the vessel. While we had caught everything on video, the vessel and no license
Mr.ing or name, which would obviously make follow-up rather more
challenging. Cam was unable to reach anyone so we gave up
our pursuit in great frustration. These two incidents today highlight some of our limitations as quasi-agents of enforcement. It is continually frustrating to learn that people still behave inappropriately even though they are well aware of what they are being asked to do, and which is only intended for the good of such a marvelous creature as Luna. There is no question that the information campaign, i.e. the signs, do not convey the right information, as many boaters do not know the area in which Luna lives, nor do they truly understand how to behave in his presence. The approach of a large whale at full speed towards one’s vessel must be rather daunting, to say the least. So for those who genuinely aren’t aware of the situation, it is hard to expect them to do the right thing. For those that do know and understand, there is little we can exercise in terms of the letter of the law. Nor can we be on watch 24 hours a day, and since people continue to ask us what our hours are (to which we do not respond with any specifics) we are certain that many visit Luna in our absence. Our presence is certainly only a band-aid and we believe more strongly every day that this animal MUST be returned to his pod. NEXT
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