March 9, 2003

Sunday, Veins of Life Watershed Societyh 9, '03
11:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Rain mixed with snow, calm
Visitors - 14
Boats - 3 arr; 1 dep

Winter has finally hit Gold River - this is the first snow to hit the area since Christmas Eve and it is quickly changing to rain. Due to the inclement weather and poor road conditions, today was pretty quiet at the dock. There are always a few die hard regulars, but with no orca in sight, most weren't getting out of their vehicles. The visitor count that I take are of those who actually get out of their cars to look for the whale.

Arriving at 11:00 a.m, I was met by three gentlemen who were on the upper dock looking for Luna. One of those men was Cal Jeffords of the Land & Sea B&B in Gold River and the others were guests of his. Cal told me that he makes it to the dock approximately once every couple of days and that the last time he saw Luna in at the dock was Friday, Feb 28. Cal brings guests to see the orca but discourages any physical contact with the whale. Cal mentioned that the owner of the new Peppercorn Lodge, currently under construction in Gold River, may be a potential contributer to the Luna Stewardship Project.

Tony Finch came by the dock on his regular security patrol at 12:00 noon. I asked him for any information he may have in his log book regarding Luna. He agreed to check through and make notes for me but indicated that aside from the incident of Luna's large jumps on Feb 27, he just documents the times and dates that he has seen the orca at the dock.

12:45p.m - three visitors arrive - still no sign of L98
12:55p.m - one visitor - heavy rain and fog in Jacklah Bay and around Victor Island make the visibility really low. Even if Luna is out there he would be difficult to spot.
1:45p.m - three visitors

At 2:03p.m a small craft pulled in at the boat launch so I drove over to meet it and question the passengers about Luna encounters. They have not seen Luna today, nor did they see him yesterday, Veins of Life Watershed Societyh 8th, when they headed out to their property in Tlupana Inlet. Both occupants of the boat expressed disgust with the latest news article in the Vancouver Province which comments on children coming to pet Luna on their way home from school. They said that the article is not fully factual (based on rumours, not facts) and is quite mis-leading.

At 2:15p.m, Garth Sinclair of DFO and a partner launched the DFO zodiak and made their way out of Muchalat Bay. Garth stated that there are a lot of steelhead at the mouth of the Houston River now and that is where Luna is spending his time these days.

With the rain picking up again and no new visitors to the dock I took my leave at 2:30p.m.