Boaters Attacked by (Possessed) Whale Have Been Warned to Stay Away

[LauraK]

VANCOUVER (CP) - Boaters are being warned to steer clear of Nootka Sound and have it coming if they have a scary encounter with Luna the killer whale, say local natives. .snip.

Luna became the subject of a high seas custody tug-of-war between aboriginals and federal fisheries scientists in June when fisheries officials tried to capture the 1,360-kilogram whale in an effort to reunite him with his pod off southern Vancouver Island. .snip.

The Mowachaht-Muchalaht believe Luna embodies the spirit of their late chief, Ambrose Maquinna, who said he would return to them in the form of a whale after he died.

Only days after the chief's death three years ago, Luna appeared in the Gold River area. .snip.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1845&ncid=737&e=1&u=/cpress/20040829/ca_pr_on_na/lonely_luna

[A_Possum]

1. Well, sorry, I think poor Luna should get to go back to her pod

This is just more "faith-based" inhumanity, in my view.

[Nambe]

2. IMO, This land is their land.

They don't ask for much. And IMO, that bay is now Luna's bay. Boaters have plenty of places to go and play, that is Luna's home as long as she/he wants it to be. Whales don't ask for much.

[A_Possum]

3. I feel I'm taking Luna's part, not the humans

Killer whales are highly social pack animals, similar to dogs. If he's been lost and separated from his pod, he is likely to be anxious and upset, and possibly his survival is at more at risk.

So, I don't think Luna is "asking" to be kept there, no. I don't see any reason to believe that except the coincidence of the guy's dying.

[soothsayer]

4. But the chief SAID he would return to them as a whale, and he did

So let them have him...!

[Dover]

5. We here really should be focused on what to do with one possessed CHIMP.

Of course, I really don't want to get into the whole devil worship thing....but I do believe the Chimp might once have been a freeper.

[Nambe]

6. I've studied cetology and am sceptical of moving whales...

that have decided to be active with humans. Captive whales are another issue. The whale brain is huge compared to the human brain and size matters. They have the paralob in their brain that is not associated with echolocation and is still to be analyzed. From the earliest records to date, birthing cows have approached humans in boats for assistance. A breach birth causes the death of both the mother and calf. There has never been a report of a cow approaching an alien boat, though a majority of boats in the 50's and 60's would shoot the cow for fear or prejudice by fishermen, or just for the kill. In the water, they know your pulse, blood pressure, and fear or aggression tendencies but in a boat they have no known ability to read you, especially with a motor going.

Who are we to decide where or how they should live. It is common for a pod or family of cetaceans to banish a member. Luna has a life to live without the most violent creature on earth making his/her decisions. IMO.

[A_Possum]

8. We'll agree to disagree

My concern is simply that whales do get lost and separated from their pods, and I'm uninterested in the claim that some human soul has returned in the whale, which seems equally interfering to me. You suggest that the whale approaching a boat is asking for help; I would suggest it's equally likely that they are approaching something that has some of the appearance of another whale.

Unless the native americans are protesting reuniting ANY whale, then their issue seems to be what I personally would call superstition. To me, the whale's well-being trumps that.

However, what the whale's well-being is can be admittedly a difficult issue to determine, therefore as I say, we can agree to disagree.

[AngryAmish]

7. If whale wants to be in the sound...

then whale stays in sound. What a colossal waste of time, money and energy to worry about this.

If whales are highly social creatures, what if said whale pissed everyone off and was exiled?

[allalone]

9. boaters are always coming to close

to Luna and he/she(?) has become so used to people, she tries to interact. Now the idiots have taken to trying to touch it. The whale was supposed to be united with it's pod, but the local native americans interfered and now it's in limbo. The whale has been in the sound a couple of years, but now all of a sudden it's their returned chief?