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rfmcdonaldI hope that the responsible parties in the Mowachaht Muchalaht First Nation are happy with this news.
Scientists had tried to reunite the young Luna with his pod, but the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation insisted that Luna was reincarnation of a recently dead chief and refused to let Environment Canada relocate him to a safer clime. Some radical environmentalists agreed, on the grounds that the Canadian government was unjustified in and morally incapable of relocating Luna.
This tragedy was inevitable only because these beliefs persisted unchallenged, and determined the course of some actions bound to end in tragedy. The pity of it is that the same is done to human beings all the time and no one notices, not especially. As Luna goes, so we all?
Luna, the playful killer whale who won the hearts of many around the world, was killed Friday after an incident with a tugboat off the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Dr. John Ford, a scientist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, told CTV Newsnet that it appears Luna died after getting sucked into the current of the tug's powerful propeller.
Tissue samples collected by fisheries officers confirmed the animal was a killer whale and they are convinced it was Luna, reports The Canadian Press.
"The behaviour of the whale prior to the accident and the location, all point toward it being Luna, unfortunately, so it's really a tragic end to quite a saga over the last five years," said Ford from Victoria.
Federal fisheries officials said the boat was idling to escape rough, stormy waters in Nootka Sound, just off of Gold River, when the accident happened.
Ford described the vessel as a powerful, 100 ft. ocean-going tug which was holding position in the water.
Ford said Luna likely died "instantly" after treating the 27-tonne General Jackson as he would any other idle or slow-moving boat -- swimming underneath the hull, rubbing up against it and pushing on its rudders.
Scientists had tried to reunite the young Luna with his pod, but the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation insisted that Luna was reincarnation of a recently dead chief and refused to let Environment Canada relocate him to a safer clime. Some radical environmentalists agreed, on the grounds that the Canadian government was unjustified in and morally incapable of relocating Luna.
This tragedy was inevitable only because these beliefs persisted unchallenged, and determined the course of some actions bound to end in tragedy. The pity of it is that the same is done to human beings all the time and no one notices, not especially. As Luna goes, so we all?
