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Killer
Whale of a Problem
Moby Dick liked
to smash boats to pieces; Luna just likes to bat them around a bit. Moby
Dick was a fictional hell-raiser; Luna is a real-life nuisance. When the
15-foot orca strayed from his pod three years ago and took up a new residence
in Canada’s Nootka Sound, few expected the killer whale to be so
outgoing. Now there are few locals whom Luna—or L-98, as he’s
officially known—hasn’t bumped into, literally.
“Solitary
killer whales tend to be drawn to boats,” explains Brian Gorman,
spokesman for the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service in Seattle. “But
L-98 actually seems to enjoy pushing boats around. Many boaters find it
thrilling at first. But after four or five hours of being knocked around
by a whale, they’ve usually had enough.”
This
summer, the United States and Canada will launch Plan A of their joint
effort to return Luna to his pod: They will draw him out to the mouth
of the Sound when the pod is expected to pass by. If that doesn’t
work, they will physically transport him to the Pacific Ocean this fall.
Why
the urgency? “The nuisance problem of L-98 can no longer be ignored,”
Gorman says. For example, he reports that two fishermen were a few miles
offshore last summer when their outboard died. As they rowed back toward
shore, Luna paid them a visit. Every time they rowed forward, he playfully
knocked them back. The whale kept them out on the water the entire day,
apparently never growing bored of the game.
“He’s
very lonely,” says Ryan Lejbak, spokesman for ReuniteLuna.com, a
Web site devoted to returning the whale to his pod. “He’s
not threatening, but down the road someone could get hurt.”
Lejbak,
a self-described orca fanatic, believes Luna is ready to return to his
pod and that Plan A will work. “His behavior has changed a lot in
the last few months,” Lejbak said. “Even his affection for
boats has diminished. Some say he’s like a rock star now, because
suddenly he’s acting like he’s too good for everyone.”
Is Luna
starting to miss his pod, or is he just laying low for a while? Boaters
won’t know until midsummer if this prodigal whale is ready to go
home.
14,000
Gallons of drinking
water used every 24 hours on the Titanic.
July
Calendar
1-5. Melbourne Boat Show in Melbourne, Australia. 03 9328 4855.
www.biavic.com.au.
9-11 and 16-18. Dallas Summer Boat Show in Dallas, Texas. (469)
549-0673. www.dallasboatshow.net.
16-18. The Boat Show in Clinton, Connecticut. (860) 529-2123. www.northeastpromo.com.
22-25. The Summer Boat Show in San Diego, California. (888) BOAT-INFO.
www.scma.com.
28-Aug. 1. The Summer Boat Show in Houston, Texas. (713) 526-6361.
www.houstonboatshows.com.
Things
We Like
What do you get
if you mix a Cigarette race boat with an ordinary surfboard? Who knows,
but it would have to look something like the Igniter 330 Jetboard from
PowerSki International. We spotted this flashy waterborne rocket at the
Miami International Boat Show, where its designers unveiled this souped-up
version of their original. The new 330 cuts a lower, more streamlined
profile, and its re-engineered hull bottom promises more stability. If
you're looking to fill your lazarette with a thrilling, state-of-the-art
watertoy, we may have found it for you: The Igniter can electrify your
next cruise.
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