Documentary: The Whale

So this was actually an interesting documentary. Prepare to need the tissues in the end. It’s a great story that I had never even heard about, but shows a lot about orcas.

It is a story of a little Orca who gets trapped in a little sea area in British Columbia called the Nootka Sound. The people of the area call the Orca Luna, although the orca is a male, not female. He’s just a young whale when he gets separated from his family and finds himself in this area with no other whales.

The people in the area, at first, are a little worried. I mean a killer whale in their home… Well turns out, all Luna wanted was some attention. Orcas are social animals, much like humans, and without whales to communicate with, he found other beings that seemed intelligent and able to socialize with him. He loved playing with people in the boats and letting them pet him. Many people came to Nootka Sound during this time, just to see Luna.

Not long after, however, wildlife conservationists step in saying that interaction with Luna would be harmful and that people should stay away from him. One of the conservationists had a story of a beluga whale that get separated from family and was run over by a boat, and although this whale healed, they didn’t want it to happen to Luna.

Problem is, Luna was already used to playing with others and others playing back, so when people were not allowed to look at Luna, touch him or have any interaction at all, it puzzled the poor little whale.

When the government goes to take Luna away, the natives have a feeling that they are going to put him in an aquarium or something of the sort, not reunite him with his family, so they work together and get Luna to follow them instead of the government.

In the end, one biologist takes it on to watch Luna until they can find a way to get him safe. He had to leave for family business and during the day he was away, Luna was struck by a boat.

I don’t personally know all the details of the story, but I think isolating Luna from the only beings he could have interaction with was the worst thing they could have done. And putting him in an aquarium or something like sea world would have been worse, just my opinion after seeing Blackfish.