What boundary? What whale? Whose responsibility? - Governing Transboundary Waters: Canada, the United States, and Indigenous Communities - page 166

To fill the void left by James' departure, journalists Suzanne Chisholm and Mike
Parfitt who came to Nootka Sound to document this story - and ultimately
produced the award-winning documentary films, Saving Luna (2008) and The Whale
(2012) - crossed yet another boundary, from “observer” to “actor” by taking over
the role as Luna's companion. They, too, applied for a permit to look after Luna
“legally” but did not receive approval from the DFO. Running the risk of fines
and threats of incarceration, the journalists set up camp on their boat in an attempt
to keep Luna out of harm's way. However, accompanying Luna every minute
proved impossible. When the couple left the area for a family visit, tragedy struck
(Chisholm, 2012).
On a stormy day in March 2006, a large tugboat pulled into Nootka Sound in
an attempt to avoid inclement weather. Perhaps curious of the vessel, Luna
playfully interacted with the tugboat. As the vessel pulled away, Luna was drawn
into the propeller and was instantly killed.
Although Luna's life ended in tragedy, retelling the story provides an opportunity
- a lichtung in the words of Heidegger - to learn from its public unfolding and
explore the edges, “transgressions”, and entanglements between animal and human
(Philo and Wilbert, 2000; Collard, 2012) and the power dynamics set up between
socially created political borders. As James (2010) reflects, “it is not too often in
one's life that you can be part of the unfolding of a legend. Now that the drama
is over, it is our responsibility to take the lessons presented to us and let them
inform our actions”. This chapter is written with that aim.
Lessons from Luna
At first brush, the story of this lost whale (known as Luna, L98, or Tsu-xiit depending
on your position) seems a familiar tale: a “lost” juvenile whale fending for himself
in the wild and a group of environmentally-minded citizens banding together to
“save” the whale by reuniting him with his family, and repositioning him to his
“natural place”. Stories of successful reunification of stray, friendly whales have,
after-all, been on the rise since the Warner Brothers' hit movie Free Willy . In fact,
a year after Luna arrived in Nootka Sound, another whale - known as Springer -
was “rescued” in the Puget Sound of Washington, having separated from her pod.
Responding to concerns that the young whale would die in the congested waters
of Puget Sound, officials devised a plan to net Springer and reunite her with her
pod in Canada - a plan that, miraculously, worked.
However, as the story unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear that Luna's tale is
far from straightforward, as seemingly uncontested categories such as “animal”,
“human”, “lost”, and “found” become challenged at every turn. Part of the messi-
ness is that there are multiple boundaries in question. They involve several political
jurisdictions (national, state, provincial, reserve/non-reserve), as well as cultural,
species, and epistemological. By drawing on Luna's story and the multiple discourses
generated around its unfolding, this chapter explores how current governance
systems are often ill-equipped to transcend boundaries.