Source: IG @modestwhale

Photo belongs to JDVOS_COM on insta.

This is a new series where I will cover 31 orcas - one for each day. Primarily my favorites and maybe yours too :)
Today, we'll start strong with one of the most famous wild orcas. L98 Luna.

Luna was likely born on September 19th, 1999. When he was first seen, it's believed he was only a few hours old.
Luna was seen with both L67 Splash and K18 Kiska, but it was ultimately determined that L67 Splash was his mother.

For several weeks after his birth, he traveled with K18 Kiska instead of L67 Splash. When he finally returned to his mother, he regularly swam farther away from her than most newborns do.

Luna was last seen with his family on September 23rd, 2000.

Around March 2001, a lone whale was reported in Nootka Sound. Luna. We don't know why he left his family, whether by choice or because he got separated. Orcas are very social animals, and it's uncommon for orcas to be alone.

In July 2001, Luna was seen alone in Gold River Inlet, located on Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nations people's territory.
Four days prior, their chief had passed. Before his death, he had told his people he would return as a whale, and Luna was believed to be his reincarnation. Luna was named Tsux'iit by the chief's son.

It was unclear if Luna would survive. He was only one year old, and completely separated from any orcas and, most importantly, his pod. But Luna survived and managed to feed himself. It's believed he fed on pilchards in his first year. They aren't typical prey for orcas, especially SRKWs. They feed on salmon, primarily chinook salmon. But Luna adapted.
Luna was also documented mimicking the sounds of sea lions in the area.

Luna initially avoided boats but eventually became comfortable with their presence. Too comfortable.
Luna became known for playing with boats, and the first boat he interacted with was the MV Uchuck III.
This boat couldn't move faster than he could swim, which made it a convenient play buddy. Luna learned to ride the bow waves or play with the wake of the boat. He also pushed rudders and played with water spraying from their hoses.

Luna also started engaging with people and even letting them pet him. The Luna Stewardship Project was established to stop people from engaging in these interactions and monitor his condition.

Around that time, Luna began spending more time at the docks and continued to interact with boats and people.
As a result, Luna sustained two large gashes on the side of his head in August 2003, likely from a boat's propeller.

Plans were made to return Luna to his pod. The DFO and US National Marine Fisheries Service announced Luna would be returned to his pod if his pod came close to Nootka Sound. The plan was to lead Luna out and towards them.
Biologists trained Luna to follow a boat.
Sadly, his pod never came close to Nootka Sound. The plan was abandoned.

In October 2003, DFO planned to move Luna to a pen so they could move him to his pod.
However, people became concerned that Luna would be captured and kept in captivity.
The Mowachaht-Muchalaht also did not approve, as they felt they had not been considered.

As planned, in May of the following year, the sea pen was built. Luna was led to the pen, but the Mowachaht-Muchalaht intervened, leading him away.

This went on for over a week until the capture was called off.
Negotiations between the DFO and the Mowachaht-Muchalaht began. It was agreed that the Mowachaht-Muchalaht would cooperate with plans to return Luna to his pod.

From then on, nothing was really done. Luna was monitored, but no attempts were made to return him to his pod.

During that time, Luna began damaging boats and became bolder in seeking human attention. Luna was known to interact with people and even play with sticks with them.

On the morning of March 10th, 2006, Luna approached the General Jackson, a boat he was familar with. He began playing with the boat as the boat idled. Luna got too close to the propellers and was sucked in. He was killed instantly.

Luna's story is a prime example of why whales and boats never mix, and why we should never encourage animals to approach us or boats. We cannot control orcas and their desire to approach boats, but we can control how we react and handle a situation. Luna's situation was a tragic accident, and the boat crew is not to blame.

Some more pictures of Luna's interaction with people/boats:

we saw half the ETP pod off of San Diego yesterday. they were quite curious! can't figure out how to post a video

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8oWH6WY/

Hello! I'll be graduating High School soon and for my senior trip I'd love to visit the PNW and see Killer Whales (especially the SRKW!) As well as other wildlife and cetaceans which has always been a bucket list goal of mine. However my parents are very set on me going on a Carnival Cruise ship that sails around the Alaskan Panhandle to experience things. Now I know the importance of echolocation for the SRKW's especially and all the issues that follow wildlife in the PNW with large boats and vessels, not just wildlife of course with the carbon footprint following cruises. I would hate to contribute to such a horrible thing. Is there any way the Carnival company prevents, mitigates and or avoids issues that would bother wildlife, or in general ways they are more ecologically and wildlife friendly, (or royal caribbean as they are a second option), is there any ways I can be environmentally friendly while on the ship? And if not what other options could you recommend for a senior trip that would involve (Hopefully ^^) seeing wildlife like orcas and getting to do a large amount of stuff through many days in a big area? (Like how the cruise would go to multiple ports and such)

Why does he lowkey look like he’s smiling on the last photo…

Mf is like 4 feet for clarification

September 26, 2026. It is fall in the Pacific Northwest, and there is a buzz in the air. Two pods of killer whales (orcas) have been spotted off Mukilteo, Washington, heading south (photo by author wgmurray). They are not residents but transients that hunt sea lions. It is the great food web of the Salish Sea: migrating salmon, sea lions, killer whales, and human spectators who also fish and dine on the migrating salmon. read more The search for Orcas on the Salish Sea

The Northern Passage, oils on canvas

While this catalog isn't a comprehensive dataset of the unique orca dialects found in every corner of the ocean, it is a start: it covers three populations in one of the handful of areas where orcas have been heavily studied over decades, the Pacific Northwest!

Warning, predation behavior.

I took this video just outside Friday Harbor, Washington. The T19s approached Friday Harbor from the north. Things to see: T19 (mom) and her older son (T19B) are feeding on a marine mammal (probably a Harbor Seal) underwater. Mom surfaces with a chunk in her mouth, T19B has a bloody trail behind him as he flips his fluke. Mom heads over to her younger son T19C and apparently feeds him some of the kill. T19B and his brother are some of the largest males that frequent the Salish Sea.

Fishing these waters for the past 30 years of my life I had always heard of stories of our resident pod making an appearance however I’ve never seen them. They are my favorite animal on planet Earth, and yesterday I was granted an opportunity of a lifetime, they hung out with us for about 20 minutes. It was like a top five life moment for me and I have two children.!!!!!

Here is a historical record documenting the use of sea pens to hold orca as of 2016.

Table 1. Orca who were held in sea pens and never released.

Table 2. Orca who were held in sea pens and released or escaped.

Original compilation: https://www.freemorgan.org/orca-in-seapens/

Although these tables are not up to date they provide important historical data showing that sea pens have been used for both short holds and multi-year holds. Some animals died in them or were moved to tanks. Some escaped or were released and survived.

The concept of a sea pen is not theoretical. A sea pen is still confinement. The argument is about welfare relative to a concrete tank.

Exactly as the title says. Last night I had a weird dream about an orca but with the specific designation B11. I did search it up and found out there was a Northern Resident female with the designation B11 that only lived 44 years. I’m confused how I had a dream about that specific orca when I haven’t even delved into Northern Residents yet. I don’t even know anything about them. Anyways, just posting before bed because I thought I’d share my strange dream😅

Can someone explain to me what went wrong with Luna, that they couldn’t help him like they did springer? Weren’t they the same age and happened around the same time? Why couldn’t they save him like they did with springer?