0:00:51 > 0:00:55I often think it was like a child getting lost in a supermarket.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58He was just wandering up an aisle looking at fish
0:00:58 > 0:01:02and he turned around and his family was gone.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12Then when he went looking for them, no-one was there.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35His family was close, because that's how orcas are.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39It was part of a community of orcas who spend summers
0:01:39 > 0:01:42in the sheltered waters between Canada and the United States
0:01:42 > 0:01:45on the west coast of North America.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51The community is endangered.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54There are fewer than 90 of these orcas left.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57They're starved by a shortage of fish,
0:01:57 > 0:01:59they're poisoned by pollution,
0:01:59 > 0:02:02they're hammered by the noise of machines.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07Bu through it all, they do what they have always done to survive,
0:02:07 > 0:02:09they stick together.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12We humans might call them a huggy family.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16They touch, they play, they co-operate,
0:02:16 > 0:02:20they keep in contact with calls and whistles they can hear for miles.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24Killer whales have social needs that are as strong as those of humans,
0:02:24 > 0:02:26perhaps more so.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28In fact, I think I'd stick my neck out and say
0:02:28 > 0:02:31they really are stronger than humans.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34I'm sure you could damage a whale psychologically
0:02:34 > 0:02:36by depriving it of contact.
0:02:36 > 0:02:41Scientists have been studying these whales for over 40 years.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43They know each of them by markings.
0:02:43 > 0:02:48When this little whale was born, he was given a number - L98 -
0:02:48 > 0:02:50and a nickname - Luna.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56People from both Canada and the United States
0:02:56 > 0:03:00watch these orcas every day and they began to notice that little Luna
0:03:00 > 0:03:02was more independent than other orca babies.
0:03:02 > 0:03:07Some of them are Mama's boys, others are like Luna.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11But he's probably the extreme in terms of just wandering around.
0:03:11 > 0:03:12He's happy with anybody.
0:03:12 > 0:03:17It was the most unusual beginning of a whale life that we had documented.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20It just kept evolving into more unusual...
0:03:20 > 0:03:25Then, when Luna was almost two years old, it happened.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29Hundreds of miles form his family's summer home,
0:03:29 > 0:03:35in the rock canyons of a fjord called Nootka Sound, Luna got lost.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38No one knows why, but suddenly the little whale
0:03:38 > 0:03:42who was happy with anybody found himself in a place
0:03:42 > 0:03:44where he had nobody.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54LUNA CALLS OUT
0:03:55 > 0:03:58Much later, when scientists came to listen with hydrophones,
0:03:58 > 0:04:03they found out that in this solitude, Luna called out every day.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06- LUNA CALLS OUT - But only the deep rocks answered.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23LUNA CALLS OUT
0:04:31 > 0:04:33My name is Mike Parfit.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37My wife, Suzanne Chisholm, and I came to the town of Gold River
0:04:37 > 0:04:41on the shores of Nootka Sound to write a magazine article.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45It was supposed to be a little story, a curiosity.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47We came for three weeks.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51We stayed a little longer than we expected.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53Three years.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59And it was all because of what Luna decided to do
0:04:59 > 0:05:01when he found himself alone.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15It all started long before we got here,
0:05:15 > 0:05:17near a logging camp in a place called Mooyah Bay.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43A few months after Luna got lost, he started to pop up at boats and docks
0:05:43 > 0:05:45in Mooyah Bay as if to say hello.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47How are you?
0:05:47 > 0:05:51That whale needs and wants and craves attention.
0:05:51 > 0:05:52It was incredibly surreal.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55I remember being amazed that he wanted to see us
0:05:55 > 0:05:56as much as we wanted to see him.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00People responded with a funny combination of awe and disbelief
0:06:00 > 0:06:04and compassion. I think when they saw this little whale,
0:06:04 > 0:06:06they recognised that he needed something.
0:06:06 > 0:06:11We were coming back on Sunday afternoon, it was in Mooyah Bay,
0:06:11 > 0:06:14He just came right up to the boat. He was under the boat
0:06:14 > 0:06:16and he just looked so lonely.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19It just broke your heart, though, to leave him, because, you know,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22he's all alone and he just wants some interaction.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25I mean, that guy would look and bring his eye right there
0:06:25 > 0:06:29and he's looking at you. It wasn't, like, a dog sniffing your leg.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32He was communicating. He would come up and go on his side and
0:06:32 > 0:06:35- look right at you. - That's not a predator or something,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38that's somebody just wanting to bond. If you look in his eye,
0:06:38 > 0:06:41you know, there's more there than most of my guests.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45- THEY LAUGH - There really is.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52If Luna was trying to get attention,
0:06:52 > 0:06:54it was working.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58I touched him! Now I've touched him that much!
0:06:58 > 0:07:01You know, you just...
0:07:01 > 0:07:04How can you not touch the whale
0:07:04 > 0:07:06when he comes over there?
0:07:06 > 0:07:08My granddaughter, or my littlest granddaughter,
0:07:08 > 0:07:11"I'm the queen of the whale-touchers!"
0:07:11 > 0:07:14HE CHUCKLES
0:07:16 > 0:07:18'You know, it was a beautiful feeling,
0:07:18 > 0:07:21'communicating with that animal like that.'
0:07:23 > 0:07:24Did he scare you?!
0:07:26 > 0:07:27Don't you bite me!
0:07:30 > 0:07:32Don't you bite me!
0:07:34 > 0:07:36I know, I know.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47Now I...
0:07:47 > 0:07:49Now I've petted him this many times.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06I wonder what he's thinking.
0:08:06 > 0:08:11My heart just goes like this when I get close to his mouth!
0:08:12 > 0:08:14- Oh! - LAUGHTER
0:08:14 > 0:08:16LUNA SQUEAKS AND WHISTLES
0:08:18 > 0:08:19Are you recording this?
0:08:19 > 0:08:22SHE LAUGHS
0:08:22 > 0:08:24OK, what was that?
0:08:25 > 0:08:27'You always wish that
0:08:27 > 0:08:30'you could communicate with wild animals like that,
0:08:30 > 0:08:32'and when a wild animal comes and...'
0:08:32 > 0:08:35and makes contact with you,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38it's an amazing thing.
0:08:40 > 0:08:41WHALE SONG
0:08:41 > 0:08:45To try to explain all these things that were happening,
0:08:45 > 0:08:50we humans said Luna was lonely and was looking for friendship.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56But friendship is a human idea
0:08:56 > 0:08:58and scientists call it anthropomorphism
0:08:58 > 0:09:01where we use human ideas to describe how animals feel.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06And for years, they've said that's wrong.
0:09:06 > 0:09:07That's one of those words
0:09:07 > 0:09:11that the anthropomorphic police would not let you use
0:09:11 > 0:09:13for long-time, friendships in animals.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15But as scientists have learned more
0:09:15 > 0:09:18about the way humans and animals experience similar emotions,
0:09:18 > 0:09:21some now use words like "friendship" themselves.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24Whales have developed friendships
0:09:24 > 0:09:28and understanding how friends interact with each other
0:09:28 > 0:09:30is great stuff.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33But Lance was talking about friendships between whales.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36This little guy didn't have any whales,
0:09:36 > 0:09:37so he apparently decided
0:09:37 > 0:09:40that if you can't be with the species you are,
0:09:40 > 0:09:42then make friends with the species you're with.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55I'd say personality-wise, he knew what he wanted.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59He seemed somehow spunky, he was lively, he was engaging.
0:09:59 > 0:10:00He was kind of pushy.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04I would say he was a sort of an outside-the-envelope kind of whale.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16It often seems that there's a wall between us humans and wild beings
0:10:16 > 0:10:18built of fear and respect.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22Luna was breaking it down.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24When he pops up and he looks at you,
0:10:24 > 0:10:26you can see...
0:10:26 > 0:10:29I mean, the eyes are the window to the soul.
0:10:29 > 0:10:30Words escape me sometimes.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33You just look at him and he would look at you in the eye
0:10:33 > 0:10:35and you would be mesmerised,
0:10:35 > 0:10:38or something - looked like he's looking right into you.
0:10:38 > 0:10:43You know, the way he regarded you in a fairly studied kind of way
0:10:43 > 0:10:46and in a sort of contemplative way,
0:10:46 > 0:10:49you had the feeling that he knew what he was doing.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53You know, killer whales, they come in all the time, they come up
0:10:53 > 0:10:56and they'll try to scare away from you all the time,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59but for a killer whale to be interested in YOU...
0:10:59 > 0:11:04He just had a way of getting inside of me,
0:11:04 > 0:11:05inside of my head,
0:11:05 > 0:11:07and my heart,
0:11:07 > 0:11:09and it seems like...
0:11:09 > 0:11:14my spirit, or my soul, was dancing.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24Once, we humans thought animals were here just to serve us.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27Once, philosophers said they had no thoughts.
0:11:27 > 0:11:28But today,
0:11:28 > 0:11:32scientists are seeming glimpses of bright awareness in other species.
0:11:32 > 0:11:37Some are even saying that what we share with social animals like orcas
0:11:37 > 0:11:41may be older and stronger than we had ever imagined.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51Through time so deep it gives you vertigo to think about it
0:11:51 > 0:11:54the brains and humans and whales grew large.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59Many scientist think that's because a social life is hard.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02You have to be smart to get along.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05So, in our separate ways,
0:12:05 > 0:12:09both humans and orcas have learned the same thing -
0:12:09 > 0:12:13in solitude we are incomplete, we cannot bear it.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18So maybe when we looked at one another
0:12:18 > 0:12:22across that tide of time that brought us separately to this place,
0:12:22 > 0:12:24we recognised each other's need.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36To Suzanne and me, the process of seeing we call science
0:12:36 > 0:12:38is a powerful way to look at the world,
0:12:38 > 0:12:41because it illuminates old mysteries and brings us new ones every day.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47To us, Luna was part of the grandest of these mysteries -
0:12:47 > 0:12:50a being from the other side of the wall
0:12:50 > 0:12:53who seemed to carry the very thing we think makes us unique -
0:12:53 > 0:12:57the intent, the awareness and the longing of consciousness.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04But there are other ways to see the world.
0:13:09 > 0:13:14For those supernatural creatures in our belief system...
0:13:14 > 0:13:17The people of the Mowachaht Muchalaht First Nation
0:13:17 > 0:13:20have lived here for over 4,000 years.
0:13:23 > 0:13:30The wolf is one of our most respected creatures on the land.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34His counterpart in the ocean is the orca.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38He's connected with truth and justice.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46Their old chief, Ambrose Maquinna, died the week Luna showed up.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50He had told his friend, Jerry Jack, that he'd come back as an orca.
0:13:50 > 0:13:56"I'm 74," he said, "Getting closer to heaven." He was real happy!
0:13:56 > 0:14:00"When I go home," he said, "I'm gonna come back as an orca."
0:14:00 > 0:14:02Man, it happened!
0:14:02 > 0:14:05It happened!
0:14:05 > 0:14:08So, the First Nation started calling Luna "Tsux'iit" -
0:14:08 > 0:14:09Ambrose's nickname.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11Tsux'iit is the wolf of the sea
0:14:11 > 0:14:15and we hold him in the highest regard, you know.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18I'd put my life on the line for his protection.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22That summer, Luna turned three years old,
0:14:22 > 0:14:24and many people wanted to help him.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27People who thought he was a chief revered him.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30People who thought he was lonely played with him.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36But then things changed on Nootka Sound.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40Many scientists and other people who loved wild animals
0:14:40 > 0:14:44thought that Luna's effort to make contact with people was bad for him.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48When I heard that Luna was alone,
0:14:48 > 0:14:53it was kind of like my heart, you know, my heart clunked.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56You know, he might come up and bump and...
0:14:56 > 0:14:58Toni Frohoff is a biologist.
0:14:58 > 0:15:03She studies whales and dolphins who've tried to make friends with people in other places,
0:15:03 > 0:15:06including several beluga whales on Canada's east coast.
0:15:06 > 0:15:11'You see in the media a lot of really beautiful aspects.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13'That's the light side of it.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15'But there's a very, very dark side.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20'The dark side is the human side.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27'In the long-term, our research has shown'
0:15:27 > 0:15:31the more interaction dolphins and whales have with people,
0:15:31 > 0:15:36the more likely they are to suffer injury and death.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39This became a huge dilemma on Nootka Sound.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43You natural instinct was to give him what he seemed to want.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45But what if it was dangerous for him?
0:15:45 > 0:15:47What were you supposed to do?
0:15:50 > 0:15:53The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans took a stand.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55I think people and whales,
0:15:55 > 0:15:59people and wildlife, need to create that boundary.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01You're being a friend by staying away.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05So that summer, a kind of tough love came to Nootka Sound.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10Several organisations brought in a group of women from the outside
0:16:10 > 0:16:13whose job was to tell people not to play with Luna.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16It was called "stewardship".
0:16:16 > 0:16:20Hey, guys, it's an offence under the Fisheries Act to touch this whale.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22- MAN:- He came to us.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25Yeah, but you stopped and you came right out in the middle of the area.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28There's been a lot of public attention on this whale.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32It's up to 100,000 fine under the Fisheries Act to disturb the animal.
0:16:32 > 0:16:37The young women were idealistic, sincere and determined.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39Please, don't touch it.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41OK.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44They had no actual law enforcement authority
0:16:44 > 0:16:46but they sounded strict
0:16:46 > 0:16:49and they changed the atmosphere on Nootka Sound.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52Suddenly, people who stopped in Mooyah Bay
0:16:52 > 0:16:54were told they were breaking the law,
0:16:54 > 0:16:58and Luna was an enthusiastic accomplice.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02Folks, this is not a watchable whale, OK?
0:17:02 > 0:17:04I need you to exit the area.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06Watching or interacting with this whale
0:17:06 > 0:17:08can be subject to a 100,000 fine.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11This whale is not watchable.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14- You must not stop in this area.- OK.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17Watching him could be considered disturbing.
0:17:17 > 0:17:18Gradually increase speed.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21- Get out of here. - Keep your speed up.- High speed.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25- Cruising speed.- Keep your speed up. - Don't slow down.- Faster!
0:17:25 > 0:17:28Increase your speed slowly.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30In the beginning, people were very receptive.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33"Oh, OK. Thank you very much. We're out of here."
0:17:33 > 0:17:35Michelle Keeler was one of the stewards.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39And then it was amazing the amount of boats that had engine troubles!
0:17:39 > 0:17:41It was amazing!
0:17:41 > 0:17:45INDISTINCT
0:17:45 > 0:17:48Stop touching him.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50It's 100,000 bucks a pop right now,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53and we're out here to make that happen.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55You're not helping!
0:17:55 > 0:17:59Why don't... Why doesn't somebody just grab him?
0:17:59 > 0:18:01Because...
0:18:01 > 0:18:04People are out here fishing and everything.
0:18:04 > 0:18:05Don't push, Luna.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08LAUGHTER
0:18:08 > 0:18:09- Unreal!- Down!
0:18:09 > 0:18:12Maybe he'll just keep following the tug, I don't know.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14Luna apparently figured out
0:18:14 > 0:18:17that if the stewards saw him coming, they'd dash away
0:18:17 > 0:18:20so he developed a more subtle approach
0:18:20 > 0:18:22we later called "stealth whale".
0:18:22 > 0:18:24No, Luna.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30- Oh!- You OK?- Oh, yeah.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34LAUGHTER
0:18:37 > 0:18:40I mean, he's really persistent and tries lots of things
0:18:40 > 0:18:42and he's extremely charming.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45You might know what's right and what you think is right
0:18:45 > 0:18:46and what you're going to do.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48Here he comes.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50He likes my bracelet sometimes...
0:18:50 > 0:18:53And then you get yourself in that situation with him there
0:18:53 > 0:18:55and I think it's really tough
0:18:55 > 0:18:57It's asking people too much to restrict themselves
0:18:57 > 0:19:01because people are dying for that kind of interaction.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04Oh, we're in a terrible situation.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06It was pretty obvious from the get-go
0:19:06 > 0:19:09that this was not going to be a sustainable means
0:19:09 > 0:19:11of trying to prevent types of interactions
0:19:11 > 0:19:14because all we were doing was interacting with him
0:19:14 > 0:19:16in order to prevent more interaction.
0:19:16 > 0:19:21As the stewards saw more of Luna in these situations,
0:19:21 > 0:19:23they came into conflict with themselves.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27They were trying to rebuild the wall Luna had broken
0:19:27 > 0:19:30but they loved him when he came through it.
0:19:30 > 0:19:31You're very pretty, Luna.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35Yes, you are very pretty!
0:19:35 > 0:19:37He's banging my boat.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39'When you feel like you have that connection,
0:19:39 > 0:19:42'there's nothing else like it.'
0:19:42 > 0:19:45I love my dogs, I love all the animals I've ever had,
0:19:45 > 0:19:47but this was different.
0:19:47 > 0:19:48This was different.
0:19:50 > 0:19:55No-one will ever know for sure how Luna felt this connection,
0:19:55 > 0:20:00but there's no question that he felt something.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03That summer when this old freighter and passenger ship was told
0:20:03 > 0:20:06it couldn't stop to see Luna any more, he adapted.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08That's when he started travelling with us.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11"If you guys aren't going to stop, I'm going to come with you!"
0:20:11 > 0:20:15He started to sort of commute by wake for 15 nautical miles
0:20:15 > 0:20:18back and forth from his home waters of Mooyah Bay
0:20:18 > 0:20:21to a place that was much more entertaining.
0:20:21 > 0:20:22The Gold River docks.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35But if it was fun for Luna,
0:20:35 > 0:20:39it was not fun for Fisheries officer Ed Thorburn.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43We had to get it out that we were serious about interaction and
0:20:43 > 0:20:45we would deal with it.
0:20:45 > 0:20:50Well, I was just petting him, petting his nose and stuff.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53Sandy Bohn was showing Luna to her mother and father at the dock.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56We're just standing there and I knelt down.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00He came right up to the edge and turned sideways, looking at me
0:21:00 > 0:21:02and so I just started petting him,
0:21:02 > 0:21:05because I knew that's what he wanted.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07Like, he was just sort of floating there
0:21:07 > 0:21:10and then when I knelt down, he just sort of rolled over
0:21:10 > 0:21:13and had a look at me.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21And all of a sudden I heard this, "You, there!
0:21:21 > 0:21:25"Get your hands off that whale and stand up right now!"
0:21:25 > 0:21:29It was a police officer coming to take her away.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35Sandy was charged in court with disturbing a whale.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43Luna was not called as a witness.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51After months of worry about the 100,000 fine,
0:21:51 > 0:21:53Sandy was slapped with a 100 fine.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55Did she regret it?
0:21:55 > 0:21:56No. Not at all.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00- It's the best 100 I ever spent. - SHE LAUGHS
0:22:00 > 0:22:04It was summer again. Luna was four years old.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08Another batch of young women came north to administer tough love.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11And now, it was even tougher.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15Now you weren't even supposed to look at him.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18We were instructed not to make any contact with Luna,
0:22:18 > 0:22:22especially eye contact, cos it's just as bad as touching him, really.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25DOG BARKS
0:22:27 > 0:22:30Now, some of the people who lived here started thinking
0:22:30 > 0:22:32that the tough love rules were simply cruel.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37This is like God's gift and you guys are just pulling it!
0:22:37 > 0:22:40This is a lonely animal that's looking for comfort.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43And who made those rules in the first place?
0:22:43 > 0:22:45And who says they were right?
0:22:45 > 0:22:49We had come down a couple of times after I had been fined.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52We were watching the whale in the boats,
0:22:52 > 0:22:55looking for someone to pay attention to him.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58It was very upsetting to see him.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02- And I'm going to start crying.- Aww.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06But the dilemma was still the same. No-one wanted to be cruel,
0:23:06 > 0:23:10but what should you do if human contact was bad for Luna?
0:23:10 > 0:23:11DANCE MUSIC PLAYS
0:23:17 > 0:23:21# Luna was a lonely whale, a lonely little orca whale
0:23:21 > 0:23:24# Luna was a lonely whale... #
0:23:24 > 0:23:26By now, Luna had a growing fan club,
0:23:26 > 0:23:30like these kids at a Vancouver Island elementary school.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32# A little orca... #
0:23:32 > 0:23:38News and TV reports had been seen in many countries.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40'Luna seems to be a perfectly normal...'
0:23:40 > 0:23:43Ironically, it was Luna's friendliness across the wall
0:23:43 > 0:23:45between species that had made him loved and famous.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49But now, many of the people who knew about him because of that
0:23:49 > 0:23:51wanted it to stop.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57A lot of people got involved and tried to support Luna
0:23:57 > 0:24:00and write letters to the government because they saw pictures
0:24:00 > 0:24:04of people interacting with Luna. A lot of people saw it as being wrong.
0:24:04 > 0:24:09So thousands of people started demanding a different solution -
0:24:09 > 0:24:13that the government catch Luna and try to get him back to his family.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21Senators from both Canada and the United States got involved
0:24:21 > 0:24:26and the USA offered 100,000 to help pay for a reunion attempt.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31At first, the Department said no, but the public demand grew louder.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35Certainly there was a tremendous amount of political pressure.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38People would write me, "Because I just want to spit on you!"
0:24:42 > 0:24:46The pressure worked. That fall, the Department announced it would
0:24:46 > 0:24:49try to catch Luna and move him the next spring.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52Luna's going to be reunited! This is the greatest thing ever!
0:24:52 > 0:24:56Luna's days in Nookta Sound are numbered.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59The Department of Fisheries and Oceans says the four-year-old orca
0:24:59 > 0:25:01is now a danger to himself and to people.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06As I said, we really did hope that Luna could just go on this way
0:25:06 > 0:25:09without us interfering with him. Who knows what he has on his mind,
0:25:09 > 0:25:12but anyway, we're making decisions for him now.
0:25:16 > 0:25:17That fall and winter,
0:25:17 > 0:25:20as the Department planned how to catch Luna and haul him away,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23Luna kept working on his own connections.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27He'd catch up to the boat then go right to the front, right to the bow
0:25:27 > 0:25:30and he put his tail up on the front of the boat.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33And he just lay there! And he'd fall off and he'd get back up,
0:25:33 > 0:25:35flip over and get his tail in there again.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37It was just hilarious.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40But behind the scenes, the Department's own scientists
0:25:40 > 0:25:43were not sure Luna's own family would even take him back.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47Most of us were not convinced that it would be successful.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51Some people have a blind faith, that there's absolutely no question
0:25:51 > 0:25:54that it'll work. But a lot of us who actually know these animals
0:25:54 > 0:25:56in great detail were not so certain.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59And what would happen if the reunion didn't work?
0:26:04 > 0:26:08Very quietly, the Department made detailed arrangements
0:26:08 > 0:26:11to send Luna to an aquarium if a reunion attempt was made
0:26:11 > 0:26:13and didn't work right away.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21The Department didn't say much about the captivity option.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24But rumours flew like sparks in the wind to Nookta Sound
0:26:24 > 0:26:26and galvanised the First Nations.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30That was totally disrespectful for the First Nations.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32If you want to capture a whale and
0:26:32 > 0:26:35throw him in a cage or something. No way.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40The Department went ahead with its plans but it grew very secretive.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44And now everyone along Nookta Sound became suspicious.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48There is just too many unanswered questions and everyone kind of knew
0:26:48 > 0:26:52that once it went in the net, it was going to,
0:26:52 > 0:26:55well, SeaWorld or another form of captivity.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58I think even people that wouldn't have minded that
0:26:58 > 0:27:02just got put off that the government was lying to them and
0:27:02 > 0:27:04treating people like morons.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10It was the 16th of June,
0:27:10 > 0:27:14almost three years since Luna had showed up in Nookta Sound.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19Many journalists were here for just this one day
0:27:19 > 0:27:23and all of us expected that Luna was going to be in the pen by nightfall.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27We were wrong.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32The Mowachaht Muchalah people took the only weapons they had,
0:27:32 > 0:27:35belief, canoes and song,
0:27:35 > 0:27:38and went out on the water.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43And Luna went with them.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47The number one priority was just to keep him away form the pen.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50Somewhere along the line, it dawned on us that,
0:27:50 > 0:27:53"My God, we're fighting for his freedom."
0:27:53 > 0:27:57Like, we're fighting for...at the time it seemed like his very life.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01To everyone's astonishment, including the paddlers themselves,
0:28:01 > 0:28:04Luna followed them 30 nautical miles away from the pen.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06One of the journalists told me that
0:28:06 > 0:28:09this was the most gentle kidnapping he'd ever seen.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12But something else happened that day.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17As I watched from another boat, the canoes went through
0:28:17 > 0:28:20Luna's familiar home territory of Mooyah Bay.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23Suddenly, he started jumping and splashing.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27This was the only place in all those miles he did this.
0:28:27 > 0:28:32Orcas often seem to communicate by slapping the water.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36maybe there was a different story going on here,
0:28:36 > 0:28:38one that had nothing to do with human traditions
0:28:38 > 0:28:40or government wildlife management.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43A story that we couldn't understand
0:28:43 > 0:28:46but that Luna was trying to tell us anyway.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48The story that belonged to him.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54After that, whenever he slapped the water,
0:28:54 > 0:28:56I always wondered what we were missing.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01The first day, we knew we were in trouble.
0:29:01 > 0:29:06So that's when we decided, "OK, this is now a totally different story."
0:29:06 > 0:29:09The next day, Fisheries officer Ed Thorburn went out
0:29:09 > 0:29:12to bring Luna back, but the canoes got in the way.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20'We ask you not to interfere with this operation.'
0:29:22 > 0:29:26They strike me as being very ready for action, these boys.
0:29:28 > 0:29:33The press called it a tug of whale, but maybe to Luna, it wasn't.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36All he had ever wanted from us was friendship.
0:29:36 > 0:29:40And now every day was full of people who sang and played
0:29:40 > 0:29:41and looked him in the eye.
0:29:41 > 0:29:45In our story, this was a fight,
0:29:45 > 0:29:48but maybe Luna thought he had already won.
0:29:52 > 0:29:57It went on for days, back and forth until the 22nd of June -
0:29:57 > 0:30:00a week after the capture attempt began.
0:30:00 > 0:30:05First thing that morning, Luna chose Ed and the canoe fell behind.
0:30:05 > 0:30:08But then this most social of whales
0:30:08 > 0:30:10decided to help sort logs for a while
0:30:10 > 0:30:12and the canoes caught up.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15Ed got him out of the logs,
0:30:15 > 0:30:18but then Luna had to say hello to a prawn fishing boat.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23And the canoe came singing along.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28They paddled on and on into the growing wind -
0:30:28 > 0:30:34an ancient people trying to make a modern legend of sea and spirit
0:30:34 > 0:30:36with a little whale.
0:30:50 > 0:30:52But then, beyond an island,
0:30:52 > 0:30:56Luna decided to trade songs for motors for a while
0:30:56 > 0:30:59and went over to Ed Thorburn on the Department boat.
0:30:59 > 0:31:04Ed speeded up, Luna went with him, and the canoes couldn't catch up.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08Two hours later, Ed led Luna into the pen.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11The tug of whale was over.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14My chest and my heart, everything was really heavy.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17I started to cry. I thought, "Oh, they've got him."
0:31:17 > 0:31:20To me, it was like, holy cow, this is actually going to work.
0:31:22 > 0:31:23But this was odd.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27The gate of the pen wasn't yet closed.
0:31:27 > 0:31:32I was willing to kill somebody. I was so furious, it was unbelievable.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35How many more opportunities were we going to get?
0:31:35 > 0:31:39No-one has ever fully explained why the gate wasn't closed
0:31:39 > 0:31:42while Luna rested in the back of the pen.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45But after a full 11 minutes, he slipped away.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48Ed tried again to lead him in.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51But then, from up on a nearby hill,
0:31:51 > 0:31:53Suzanne and I heard singing.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55The canoes were back,
0:31:55 > 0:31:59and Luna went out to be among them.
0:31:59 > 0:32:01The water was jammed with boats.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04It was a Luna flotilla.
0:32:04 > 0:32:07But then Ed went out and Luna went over to say hi,
0:32:07 > 0:32:11and Ed started back, and then out of the flotilla came a little tin boat,
0:32:11 > 0:32:13driven by a guy named Rudy.
0:32:13 > 0:32:15Luna went with Rudy.
0:32:15 > 0:32:17Ed gave chase.
0:32:17 > 0:32:21Luna went back and forth, just as if he was in a pod.
0:32:24 > 0:32:28To us, this was high drama, like the chase scene in a movie.
0:32:28 > 0:32:29But when we looked back,
0:32:29 > 0:32:33there was something else that was much more dramatic.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40On this day in June in a fjord in British Columbia,
0:32:40 > 0:32:43a little wild whale, by his own choice,
0:32:43 > 0:32:47spent 12 hours and swam 50 nautical miles
0:32:47 > 0:32:50just to spend his time with human beings.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54But all we noticed was the chase.
0:32:58 > 0:33:00THEY SING
0:33:03 > 0:33:06Two days after Luna left the pen and went away with Rudy,
0:33:06 > 0:33:10the Department stopped trying to catch him.
0:33:10 > 0:33:12ALL CHANT
0:33:16 > 0:33:18We did it! All of you, we did it!
0:33:18 > 0:33:23We went to see it with some water junk food and baloney sandwiches!
0:33:23 > 0:33:25LAUGHTER
0:33:25 > 0:33:27- I was really disappointed. - I was relieved.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30- We are a proud nation. - A sense of relief.
0:33:30 > 0:33:34- It was unbelievable, it was great. - Our grandfathers are smiling on us today.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37And it was a tremendously emotional moment.
0:33:37 > 0:33:41Tsux'iit is still free. Woo-hoo!
0:33:41 > 0:33:46There's no way that we compromise our position in any way!
0:33:46 > 0:33:48And our position is...
0:33:48 > 0:33:52let nature take its course and leave Tsux'iit alone!
0:33:52 > 0:33:54CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:33:58 > 0:34:02That was exactly what happened. Luna was left alone.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06And you could feel that feeling.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10Like, you know, you could just feel he must have been,
0:34:10 > 0:34:13"What did I do wrong? How come everybody hates me?"
0:34:15 > 0:34:16So he tried again.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19But this time, not all the faces were as welcoming
0:34:19 > 0:34:20as they had been before.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26One of several angry voices came from Gold River's Keith Bell,
0:34:26 > 0:34:28when Luna pushed his boats around.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30He decided to go to the police.
0:34:30 > 0:34:34If you're going to get the RCMP into any action at all,
0:34:34 > 0:34:36you've got to lay a charge of some kind,
0:34:36 > 0:34:39and I wanted to lay a charge of attempted murder on the whale.
0:34:39 > 0:34:43But the RCMP said unfortunately they couldn't prosecute Luna,
0:34:43 > 0:34:46because they didn't have jurisdiction.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49He said, "That whale doesn't belong to us anyway,
0:34:49 > 0:34:50"it's an American whale."
0:34:55 > 0:34:57Keith was not amused.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59I wanted the RCMP to get involved in it -
0:34:59 > 0:35:01if it was a cougar in our backyard,
0:35:01 > 0:35:03they would have come and shot the cougar.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07There are some people in the area that have an ill-will towards Luna.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10They feel that, if we don't get rid of Luna,
0:35:10 > 0:35:13the Department, that is, then they will.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15VOICE OVER RADIO
0:35:18 > 0:35:21'A killer whale has, on several occasions,
0:35:21 > 0:35:22'interacted with...'
0:35:22 > 0:35:25BROADCAST CONTINUES
0:35:25 > 0:35:27After the complaints,
0:35:27 > 0:35:30the government put this notice on the weather report,
0:35:30 > 0:35:33where it was repeated every few minutes all year.
0:35:34 > 0:35:37But then things changed again.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41MAN WHISTLES
0:35:46 > 0:35:48When the Department told the First Nations
0:35:48 > 0:35:52to run another one of those tough love stewardship programmes that didn't work,
0:35:52 > 0:35:57Jamie James, who was the Fisheries manager for the First Nations had a different idea.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03Oh! What are you doing?
0:36:03 > 0:36:06I thought it was kind of my responsibility to ensure that,
0:36:06 > 0:36:07you know, go see him and say,
0:36:07 > 0:36:11"You're safe here," you see a friendly face, you know.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16Just from the bond that me and Luna had,
0:36:16 > 0:36:19I think I owed it to him, and you know, let him know I'm still here.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40JAMIE WHISTLES
0:36:42 > 0:36:45LUNA CALLS OUT
0:37:03 > 0:37:05You know, Luna is a pretty strong character.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09He learned to survive on his own. He did it all himself.
0:37:09 > 0:37:13So I mean, really, I didn't do too much other than be his friend.
0:37:13 > 0:37:15That was my...
0:37:15 > 0:37:18My greatest honour was being able to do that.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25During the short time that fall that Jamie was being his friend,
0:37:25 > 0:37:27Luna got into no trouble at all.
0:37:29 > 0:37:31But the Department still said people
0:37:31 > 0:37:36should have no relationships with Luna and Jamie was told to stop.
0:37:38 > 0:37:42That summer, Luna turned six years old.
0:37:42 > 0:37:46The Department knew the risks were growing, but it did nothing new.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50It was almost like they were going to wait for somebody to...
0:37:50 > 0:37:51force their hand.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54Everyone knew it was going to hurt a person or himself.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57Everybody knew that. They were just waiting for the inevitable.
0:38:01 > 0:38:03The First Nations got a stewardship permit,
0:38:03 > 0:38:06but it was limited to the same old tough love.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09And Luna got into so much trouble trying to connect
0:38:09 > 0:38:12that we heard threats almost every day.
0:38:12 > 0:38:16We told a guy about Luna, he said, "I know how to deal with the son of a bitch - I've got a gun."
0:38:35 > 0:38:38One day during this difficult summer,
0:38:38 > 0:38:41I was at the log sort in Mooyah Bay.
0:38:46 > 0:38:50And then... stealth whale came to visit.
0:38:50 > 0:38:52I got out on the logs,
0:38:52 > 0:38:56and tried to get my boat out of his interest zone.
0:38:57 > 0:38:58No luck.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01Then I zipped over to the dock,
0:39:01 > 0:39:04hoping he'd go back to helping sort logs.
0:39:09 > 0:39:11No luck.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20Finally, Suzanne and I pulled the boat all the way out of the water
0:39:20 > 0:39:23and left Luna waiting for us to come back.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28It was just a momentary thing,
0:39:28 > 0:39:32but suddenly, I'd had enough of ditching him.
0:39:33 > 0:39:35I broke the rules.
0:39:35 > 0:39:37I looked at him.
0:39:40 > 0:39:44"What are we doing to you?" I thought. "What are we doing?"
0:39:46 > 0:39:50For four years, we have treated you with stunning inconsistency.
0:39:50 > 0:39:52Loved one day, shunned the next.
0:39:52 > 0:39:57But we keep trying to push you back behind the wall.
0:39:57 > 0:40:02No wisdom tells us this long cruelty is necessary.
0:40:02 > 0:40:04But we commit it.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08No science tells us this pain is justice.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10But we inflict it.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17"How in the world," I thought, "Will we ever be forgiven,
0:40:17 > 0:40:21"by nature, by life, and above all by ourselves,
0:40:21 > 0:40:23"if we let you suffer
0:40:23 > 0:40:26"just because you want to be our friend?"
0:40:35 > 0:40:38Then things changed for Suzanne and me.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40We decided to get involved.
0:40:40 > 0:40:44For us, the idea of getting involved in a story that we're trying to cover
0:40:44 > 0:40:47was a fundamental break from journalistic rules.
0:40:47 > 0:40:51But at the same time we felt we couldn't just stand there and report
0:40:51 > 0:40:53without trying to do something to help this whale.
0:40:57 > 0:41:02It was like everything on this planet that we love and damage.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05Maybe our whole relationship had to change.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08To us humans, true friendship is consistent.
0:41:08 > 0:41:10You can trust it.
0:41:10 > 0:41:14And from what we know of orcas, they treat each other that way too.
0:41:15 > 0:41:17So maybe it was time to give Luna
0:41:17 > 0:41:20something that was more like friendship, not less.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29So we asked the Department for a permit
0:41:29 > 0:41:32to work with Jamie, scientists, and the public,
0:41:32 > 0:41:35to keep Luna safe by having boats always near him.
0:41:35 > 0:41:36Like a pod,
0:41:36 > 0:41:40and giving him consistent interaction when he needed it.
0:41:40 > 0:41:41Friendship.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47We sent our request to the Department and the press.
0:41:47 > 0:41:50We went out on the water almost every day.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53And I got into trouble right away.
0:41:56 > 0:42:01One day when Luna was being a nuisance I led him away from danger.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05The next day I got a message from the Department.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09If I did that again, it said, I could be charged with a crime.
0:42:12 > 0:42:16Our proposal had struck at the heart of the Department's philosophy.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19You are trying to assume you know what they need
0:42:19 > 0:42:22because you can give it to them,
0:42:22 > 0:42:26versus trying to understand these are intelligent, social creatures.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29They have their own needs, we just don't understand them.
0:42:29 > 0:42:31Why assume we know how to fill that gap,
0:42:31 > 0:42:33and that it will be better for them?
0:42:33 > 0:42:35Why?
0:42:36 > 0:42:39Now we knew where we stood.
0:42:39 > 0:42:44For both Luna and for us, breaking the wall challenged some of the
0:42:44 > 0:42:48deepest things people believed about who humans and animals are.
0:42:50 > 0:42:52This was risky territory.
0:42:55 > 0:43:00Once again, tensions grew over the fate of the young whale.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03Should he be loved, should he be captured, should he be killed?
0:43:03 > 0:43:07When our First Nations canoe came through that summer, many of the
0:43:07 > 0:43:10paddlers saw him as a supernatural being in charge of his own destiny.
0:43:10 > 0:43:12And maybe ours.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15When I talk about him, it's really emotional.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18Cos I say he's special.
0:43:19 > 0:43:26He wasn't just a whale. He was brought here for some reason.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30To me, he seems to be on a mission.
0:43:30 > 0:43:32Our job is just to keep him free
0:43:32 > 0:43:38until he accomplishes, or teaches us what it is we need to learn.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45One First Nations leader told us that if Luna were killed
0:43:45 > 0:43:48it would be because Luna had chosen that ending
0:43:48 > 0:43:50to teach us a lesson.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57That day, when the paddlers tried to go to shore,
0:43:57 > 0:43:58Luna didn't seem to want them to leave.
0:43:58 > 0:44:03Again and again he turned the bow away from the beach.
0:44:04 > 0:44:08Finally the paddlers got a tow, and they left him.
0:44:18 > 0:44:22One day a man named Alan Dunham was crossing a passage,
0:44:22 > 0:44:24and Luna found him.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27Right now, philosophies didn't matter.
0:44:27 > 0:44:29Friends did.
0:44:31 > 0:44:36If Luna spilled Alan by accident, he could die in this cold water.
0:44:36 > 0:44:39But Alan was calm, and Jamie was nearby.
0:44:39 > 0:44:40So was I.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46We gathered around Alan.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51Luna looked as if he was just waiting to see
0:44:51 > 0:44:53what this meeting was all about.
0:44:56 > 0:45:00Then, Jamie and Luna turned this moment away from disaster so easily.
0:45:04 > 0:45:08Jamie looked in his eye, and Luna rested. At peace, and safe.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20In October, the First Nations stewardship permit ended
0:45:20 > 0:45:22and Jamie had to go back to his office.
0:45:22 > 0:45:24He brought in a boat I could sleep on.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27Suzanne stayed ashore to lobby for our proposal
0:45:27 > 0:45:28and I went out full-time.
0:45:28 > 0:45:32How are you guys doing? Any sign of Luna?
0:45:32 > 0:45:36RADIO: 'No, not yet, he should come and say hello pretty quick.'
0:45:36 > 0:45:39In the daylight I watched from a distance and at night I anchored
0:45:39 > 0:45:42and listened to him calling on the hydrophone.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45That different voice, telling his different story.
0:45:45 > 0:45:49Which we all interpreted differently.
0:45:55 > 0:45:57In November the Mowachaht-Muchalaht people
0:45:57 > 0:45:59held a potlatch for Ambrose Maquinna
0:45:59 > 0:46:01four years after his death.
0:46:01 > 0:46:04This was the official end of mourning.
0:46:04 > 0:46:08Now many people believed Luna would disappear.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13Right after the memorial potlatch for my grandfather Ambrose
0:46:13 > 0:46:17a lot of us knew that he was gonna go
0:46:17 > 0:46:19but we didn't know how he was gonna go.
0:46:19 > 0:46:24We didn't know if he was gonna die or just gonna leave the territory.
0:46:30 > 0:46:33RADIO: 'West coast, Vancouver Island, north,
0:46:33 > 0:46:36'storm warning upgraded to hurricane-force wind warning.
0:46:36 > 0:46:40'South-east gales, four, zero, two storm force, five, zero...'
0:46:43 > 0:46:45Winter came to Nootka Sound.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56A sport fisherman told us that Luna would be killed that winter.
0:46:59 > 0:47:01I said to him that whoever did it would be arrested.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04He said that it would be done in bad weather
0:47:04 > 0:47:06and no-one would ever find out.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11After the storm I went back out.
0:47:11 > 0:47:13Luna wasn't there.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18I spent the night, but there were no calls on the hydrophone.
0:47:22 > 0:47:24In the morning I went looking for Luna.
0:47:24 > 0:47:28But I realised that for Suzanne and me, life had been
0:47:28 > 0:47:31completely transformed by our affection for a little whale.
0:47:34 > 0:47:38Somehow, this strange visitor from the wet side of the world
0:47:38 > 0:47:40had broken down all our walls.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47It was that bond we so lightly call friendship.
0:47:47 > 0:47:51Which grows like mist, but holds like iron.
0:47:58 > 0:48:01I went far, out toward the open sea.
0:48:02 > 0:48:04Then, I thought I saw a spout.
0:48:04 > 0:48:07I aimed the camera.
0:48:13 > 0:48:15This was great!
0:48:15 > 0:48:17Luna was all right, after all.
0:48:21 > 0:48:24I slowed the boat and he came right over.
0:48:24 > 0:48:26I didn't ditch him.
0:48:26 > 0:48:30And at that moment, for me, everything changed on Nootka Sound.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35The Department had given up on him.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38The First Nations were letting go.
0:48:41 > 0:48:45So I made a choice. If I had to be Luna outlaw to keep him safe,
0:48:45 > 0:48:47that's what I would do.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54I leaned across the wall.
0:48:54 > 0:48:57In the cold water, his skin was warm.
0:49:09 > 0:49:13All my education and training involved things
0:49:13 > 0:49:15you can somehow quantify.
0:49:15 > 0:49:19But there are these uncomprehendables, almost,
0:49:19 > 0:49:22these things out there that...something's going on.
0:49:22 > 0:49:24Something is going on...
0:49:24 > 0:49:28an interconnectedness of a lot of life on this planet.
0:49:30 > 0:49:35If we're gonna get that big, unmeasurable thing out there,
0:49:35 > 0:49:39as to what are the connections in the species,
0:49:39 > 0:49:41I think we had it.
0:49:41 > 0:49:44He was just as curious about us we were about him.
0:49:47 > 0:49:51Over the next few weeks I smuggled friendship into Nootka Sound.
0:49:55 > 0:49:56I knew I might be caught.
0:49:56 > 0:49:59But at least when Luna was with me
0:49:59 > 0:50:01he was safe.
0:50:01 > 0:50:04Getting to know Luna across the walls
0:50:04 > 0:50:07was not like one of those fables
0:50:07 > 0:50:10in which people and animals start chatting.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13Up close, Luna was even more mysterious.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16A complete life full of awareness and complexity.
0:50:16 > 0:50:19as deep and unfamiliar as the sea he lived in.
0:50:23 > 0:50:26When I talked and Luna whistled and slapped, neither of us
0:50:26 > 0:50:28had a clue what the other meant.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31We were like a couple of kids far from home,
0:50:31 > 0:50:34alone on a playground, with no language to help.
0:50:34 > 0:50:36We played anyway.
0:50:36 > 0:50:38Because what we shared mattered.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48The days began to grow longer.
0:50:48 > 0:50:51A group of scientists also applied for a permit to help Luna.
0:50:51 > 0:50:55So, with spring around the corner, there was hope again.
0:50:55 > 0:50:57But no permit was ever issued
0:50:57 > 0:51:00to give Luna friendship on Nootka Sound.
0:51:06 > 0:51:10On the 5th of March my bilge pump quit
0:51:10 > 0:51:13and I got a bunch of water in the boat, which made it very heavy.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16With the motor roaring, I could only go eight knots.
0:51:16 > 0:51:22Luna loved that blast and splash and he surfed along for at least a mile.
0:51:22 > 0:51:26Then I had to leave him for a few days for a family visit.
0:51:28 > 0:51:32But on March 10th, the day before I was going to come back,
0:51:32 > 0:51:37a newspaper asked me for a photo, so I ran the tape again and stopped it
0:51:37 > 0:51:40right there.
0:51:44 > 0:51:48So the last time I saw Luna, was the last time everyone saw Luna.
0:51:55 > 0:51:59RECORDED RADIO CONVERSATION:
0:52:26 > 0:52:29With no-one there to give him safe friendship,
0:52:29 > 0:52:32once more Luna had found the dangerous kind.
0:52:37 > 0:52:41The next day, Suzanne and I went out to Mooyah Bay.
0:52:41 > 0:52:43We kept thinking
0:52:43 > 0:52:46that Luna would do stealth whale up through the flowers.
0:52:54 > 0:52:58It's almost as if an alien came down and we shot it, you know,
0:52:58 > 0:52:59because it was blocking traffic.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02That was one of the worst days of my life.
0:53:02 > 0:53:07I was the happiest guy in Gold River.
0:53:07 > 0:53:12The bottom of my heart just fell. I just... God.
0:53:12 > 0:53:18DRUMMING AND CHANTING
0:53:58 > 0:54:00Telling you this story, I just want to let you know,
0:54:00 > 0:54:04is one of the many ways for me to remember Luna
0:54:04 > 0:54:06and it's about the easiest way.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09One night, it must have been about 11 o'clock,
0:54:09 > 0:54:12totally dark out, we had a little bit of flashlight,
0:54:12 > 0:54:16and the phosphorescence in the water that glows when they're disturbed.
0:54:16 > 0:54:20So, we had Luna coming with us and it was just the most amazing thing.
0:54:20 > 0:54:24He comes up beside the boat and he's just swimming next to us
0:54:24 > 0:54:27while we're bringing him over and he's just glowing in the water.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30You didn't see Luna, you saw the outline of Luna.
0:54:30 > 0:54:33And it was just the most amazing thing you could ever see.
0:54:33 > 0:54:37It was like Luna dancing in the sky with the stars, man.
0:54:42 > 0:54:45Suzanne and I came to Nootka Sound for three weeks
0:54:45 > 0:54:47and we stayed three years.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49And we learned something -
0:54:49 > 0:54:54a life does not have to be human to be great.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10Millions of years had made him different from us
0:55:10 > 0:55:14but he had come through the wall because of what we shared.
0:55:14 > 0:55:19He, too, had carried that need for others across the greatness of time
0:55:19 > 0:55:22because it is necessary, not optional.
0:55:26 > 0:55:30As Luna taught us just by who he was,
0:55:30 > 0:55:35this thing we call friendship is bigger than we know.
0:55:46 > 0:55:49WHALE CALLS
0:56:18 > 0:56:21Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:56:21 > 0:56:24Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk