All language subtitles for The.Whale.2011.2160p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]

To me, he seems to be
on a mission.

Only he's fully aware
of what it is.

He's really persistent,

and tries lots
and lots of things.

And he's extremely charming.

We do have a problem here.

It's a safety issue.

He just wasn't just a whale.

He was brought here
for some reason.

That was my greatest honour,

was being able to be his friend.

Must have been

like a child
getting lost in a supermarket.

He was just
wandering up an aisle,

turned around...

And his family was gone.

Then, he went looking for them.

Nobody was there.

This little whale
is special to me.

He and I came
from the same place.

I grew up in Canada,

on the west coast
of British Columbia,

and he was born in the sea
near my home.

Where I grew up,
everyone loves these orcas.

Scientists know each one
by markings.

So, when
the little whale was born,

he was given a number, I-98,
and a nickname, "Luna."

My family's like most people.

We all scattered
as the kids grew up,

but it's not like that
with orcas.

These big families
stay together for life...

Hunting, playing
and whistling through the sea.

Aunts and uncles,

brothers, sisters,

grandmothers,
daughters, grandsons.

Personally, this would drive me
to the brink of insanity...

But, with orcas,
it's perfectly natural.

In these close families,
nobody just gets lost...

But, somehow, Luna did.

In the winter,
these whales travel far.

People don't see them much,

so no one really knows
how it happened.

But, one day,

in a fjord called Nootka sound,

on the west coast
of Vancouver island,

about 200 nautical miles
from his family's summer home,

Luna found himself alone.

He was less than two years old.

Much later,

when scientists came to listen
with hydrophones,

they found out,
that, in his solitude,

Luna called out every day...

But only
the deep rocks answered.

One day, not long ago,

journalist Mike Parfit
and his wife, Suzanne Chisholm,

returned
to the town of gold river,

on Nootka sound.

It was the last of many journeys

in the making of this film.

Years before,

they'd come just to write
a short magazine article.

Now they were coming back
to old friends

and familiar places,

and the story of a lost whale

who changed their lives.

When they first came here,
years ago,

they hadn't planned
to make a film.

They certainly didn't plan

to get involved in the story
themselves,

and they didn't plan
to break any rules...

But all those things happened,

and a lot more
that nobody expected...

and Suzanne and Mike and I
are here to tell you why.

This is
a place called Mooyah Bay.

There's a logging camp
back there,

and a kind of a wide spot
in Nootka sound up here.

And this is where
Luna showed up,

out in this part
of Nootka sound.

And it all started right here,

just like an old-fashioned
adventure story.

You know...
the sea, a ship, a journey.

The old freighter
called the Uchuck III

travels up and down Nootka sound
almost every day,

bringing supplies
to the logging camps

and the fishing resorts
scattered along the shores.

One July day,

Donna Schneider,
the ship's cook,

looked out the galley door,

and saw something
she'd remember forever.

Yeah.

We saw him right in this area
here, Mooyah Bay.

Quite often,
I look at where we've been,

I looked back,

and I could see
this whale in our wake...

So I ran up to Sean and he said,
"I was looking at that,"

and he goes,
"I think it's a pilot whale."

And then we came back,
and then we saw it,

I said, "Sean,
that's not a pilot whale,

that's an orca."

So we just sort of sailed on by.

And you see him,
and then you think,

"oh, well, we won't
see him again."

Kept showing up,
kept showing up.

Then, when we kept seeing him,

we sort of went,
"there's something weird here."

Many people hope

that some day we'll meet
an intelligent being

from another world.

Hollywood tells US this stranger

will come flying down
in a spaceship,

and he'll look a bit like US.

Most importantly,
he'll have a mind like ours...

And we'll figure out
how to communicate right away.

But maybe it won't be like that.

Maybe it'll be like this.

A few months
after Luna was first seen,

he started to pop up

at boats and docks
in Mooyah Bay,

as if to say "hello."

How are you?
Haven't seen you for a while.

That whale needs, and wants,
and craves attention.

It was incredibly surreal,

and I remember being amazed

that he wanted to see US
as much as we wanted to see him.

People here responded

with a funny combination
of awe and disbelief

and compassion.

I think when they saw
this little whale all alone,

they recognized
that he needed something.

We were coming back
on a sunday afternoon.

It was in Mooyah Bay,

and he just came
right up to the boat.

He was under the boat.

He just looked so lonely.

It was just like
a little lost pup.

It just broke your heart,
though, to leave him,

because you know he's all alone

and he just wants
that interaction.

Right off the bat, you're going,

"oh, man, this thing isn't like
a reptile or something,

it's got emotions."

I mean, that big guy would look
and bring his eye right there,

and he's looking at you.

It wasn't like a dog
sniffing your leg or something.

He was communicating.

He would come up
and roll on his side,

and look right at you.

You know, that's not
a predator or something,

that's somebody
just wanting to bond.

If you look in his eye,
you know,

there's more there
than most of my guests.

Orcas live
about as long as humans,

and Luna was only two.

Scientists weren't sure
he could survive on his own.

Such a young
killer whale, all by itself,

ran counter to everything
we thought we knew

about killer whales.

We thought that it would be

like laying a baby
in the forest.

He's "mowgli the jungle boy"
of whales.

There are times in your life

when you reach a point
and you say,

"this will be with me
till the day I die."

Fisheries officer
ed thorburn was told

to keep an eye
on the little whale.

He's definitely
pushing it towards US,

that's for sure.

Trying to get US wet, are ya?

It turned out

that Luna was getting
plenty of fish.

He didn't seem hungry at all,

but he kept coming up
to Ed's boat,

doing things like this...

Well, well, what a sight.

So, he had
this little piece of wood,

so he came and he balanced it
on his nose,

and then he's just flipping it
back past his blowhole...

I was thinking
he was entertaining himself,

and I didn't realize

it was probably something to do
with socializing as well.

If he wasn't hungry,

maybe he was just...

Lonely.

Killer whales have social needs

that are as strong
as those of humans,

perhaps more so.

In fact, I think
I'd stick my neck out and say

they really are
stronger than humans.

I'm sure you could
damage a whale psychologically

by, you know,
by depriving it of contact.

But Lance was talking about

contact with other whales.

This little guy
didn't have any whales.

So, he apparently decided

that if you can't be
with the species you are,

make friends
with the species you're with.

I'd say, personality-wise,
he sort of knew what he wanted.

I'd say he was somehow spunky,
he was lively, he was engaging,

he was kind of pushy.

I would say he was sort of

an "outside the envelope"
kind of whale.

I touched him!

Now I touched him that much!

You know, you just...

How can you not touch the whale
when he comes over there?

My granddaughter,
my littlest granddaughter...

"I'm the queen
of the whale-touchers."

You know,
it was a beautiful feeling,

communicating with
that animal like that.

Did he scare you?

Don't you bite me...

Don't you bite me!

Oh, yeah.

Now I... now I touched him
this many times!

Whoops!

He was very gentle.

Like, he would...

you'd be petting him, like,
on his nose and stuff,

and he would just start
to open his mouth,

and then I would just slowly
put my hand in,

and he would open his mouth
right up.

His tongue is very raspy.

My heart just goes like this
when I get close to him.

Are you recording this?

Okay, what was that, Fred?

You always wish

that you could communicate
with wild animals like that,

and when a wild animal
actually comes

and makes contact with you,

it's an amazing thing.

The first thing
that comes into my mind

when I see all of this

is that, of course,
Luna was looking for friends...

But, friendship,
that's a human idea.

Scientists call it
"anthropomorphism"

when we use human ideas,
like friendship,

to describe animals' feelings...

And, for years,
they've said that was wrong.

That's one of those words

that the anthropomorphic police
would not let you use

for a long time,

was sort of "friendships"
and animals.

But as scientists
have learned more

about the way humans and animals
experience similar emotions,

some now use words like
"friendship" themselves.

Whales
have developed friendships,

and understanding how friends
interact with each other

is great stuff.

But how should humans interact

with a friendly whale?

Nobody knew.

But a lot of people
wanted to find out.

When news of the whale
started to travel,

people,
they just got really excited.

You know, they'd know
we'd seen him,

so they'd say,
"did you see the whale?

Did you see the whale?"

"Well, yeah, I saw him!"
I'd be really excited.

You know, everywhere you went,
people were talking about Luna.

Like many residents
around Nootka sound,

Luna went to work
in the timber industry.

Some of the crews said

they ought to get him goggles
and a hard hat,

put him on the payroll.

Ed thorburn
started calling him "Bruno."

I thought, "boy, Luna...

That's a girl's name."

So I thought, well,
here he is, playing with logs,

I mean, he's pushing
40-footers around,

but I just referred to him
as Bruno,

because it was more appropriate
to what he was doing,

and he was a boy,
and I thought, you know?

Ed got so interested
that he did some research,

particularly about whether
this baby whale was dangerous.

I mean,
there have been incidents

where killer whales have been
responsible for deaths,

you know, like, in aquariums,

but there is no history
of a killer whale

ever having
a nasty experience purposely

with a human in the wild.

He likes US, it seems,
so we like him.

But you could never tell that
with a cougar or a grizzly bear,

whether they like you
or they want to eat you.

You know

how often in our lives
do we have a chance

to be this close
to something this phenomenal,

and share some space
and some time and some moments?

We humans build
a wall in our minds,

out of fear and respect

between ourselves
and wild beings.

Luna was breaking it down.

When he pops up,
and he looks at you,

you can see, I mean...

The eyes are
the window to the soul.

Words escape me sometimes,

because you'd just look at him,

and he would look at you
in the eye,

and you would be mesmerized
or something.

Looked like he was just
looking right into you.

You know, the way
that he regarded you

in a fairly studied kind of way,

and, uh, in a sort of
contemplative way,

you had the feeling
that he knew what he was doing.

You know, killer whales,

they come in all the time,
they'll come up,

and they'll try to steer away
from you all the time,

and stuff like that.

But for a killer whale
to be interested in you...

He just had a way of
getting inside of me,

inside of my head,
and into my heart.

It seems like my spirit,
or my soul,

like, my thegmasti was dancing.

When Suzanne and I
first got to Nootka sound,

and started...

Watching Luna from the shore,

we had that same feeling
of kinship,

even from that distance.

But... why?

How could an animal
so different,

that you could almost call him
an extra-terrestrial,

have anything in common
with human beings?

But maybe he did.

Once, we humans thought

animals were here
just to serve US.

Once, philosophers said
they had no thoughts.

But, today, while
radio astronomers listen

for other voices in space,

biologists are listening
to other minds here at home.

Right here, on earth,

there is now evidence that
lives we once barely noticed

are both more mysterious
and more familiar

than we had ever imagined.

Whales have been in the sea
for 50 million years,

humans have been on land
for as long as we know,

but both of US built
our survival

by learning to depend
on family and friends.

So, in our separate ways,

both humans and orcas
have learned the same thing...

in solitude, we are incomplete.

We cannot bear it.

Many scientists think

that this kind of
complex social life

requires the most intricate
intelligence of all...

You have to be smart
to get along.

So maybe that's why

this seemed so strange
and wonderful.

Maybe when we humans
looked in Luna's eyes,

we saw something we recognized...

the intent,

the awareness,

and the longing
of a fully-conscious life.

We're living in historic times.

It's just so powerful,

that it's really
a hard thing to explain.

The intensity of this contact

meant different things
to different people.

At the mouth of Nootka sound,

there's a point of land
and a little cove.

There's a lighthouse here,
and an old church.

The people
who now call themselves

the mowachaht/muchalaht
first nations

have lived here
for over 4,000 years.

For the mowachaht/muchalaht
people,

tradition explained
what was going on.

So there are
supernatural creatures

in our belief system.

"Quiet-siek" is the wolf.

He's one of our most respected
creatures on the land.

His counterpart in the ocean
is the, uh, orca.

He's connected
with truth and justice.

The band's
old chief, ambrose Maquinna,

died the week Luna showed up.

He had told his friend
Jerry Jack

that he'd come back as an orca.

"I'm 74," he said,
"I'm getting closer to heaven."

He was really happy.

"When I go home," he said,

"I am going to come back
as a kaka'win."

Man, it happened!

It happened.

The first nations
started calling Luna

"tsu'xiit", ambrose's nickname.

To them,
he didn't just raise questions,

he promised answers.

To me,
he seems to be on a mission.

Only he's fully aware
of what it is.

He just wasn't just a whale.

He was brought here
for some reason.

Tsu-xiit is the wolf of the sea,

and we hold him
in the highest regard.

Like, I'd put my life
on the line for his protection.

It's just no questions asked.

I'd do it.

That summer,
Luna turned three years old.

Now there was
another intense reaction

to all this contact.

Some people
thought it was wrong.

When I heard
that Luna was alone,

it was kind of like...

My heart, you know,
my heart clunked.

Well, you know,
he might come up and bump...

Toni frohoff is a biologist.

Sometimes,
in other parts of the world,

solitary whales or dolphins

try to make contact
with human beings.

Toni studies those rare events.

You see in the media

a lot of the really beautiful
aspects.

That's the light side of it,

but there's
a very, very dark side.

The dark side is the human side.

There is always
risk of injury to the people.

There is always risk of injury
to the whale.

One of the whales
Cathy Kinsman tried to protect

was a little beluga
named "echo."

Echo played with people
in newfoundland.

But, one day, he came back
to the dock

with this...

This was one of only a few times

Cathy herself
interacted with a whale.

A veterinarian told her

that attention might help
support echo's immune system,

so Cathy spent
all her daylight hours

by echo's side for two weeks,

as he tried to heal.

Echo survived...

But this kind of pain
is tragically common.

In the long term,

our research has shown,

the more interaction
dolphins and whales have

with people,

the more likely they are
to suffer injury and death.

So, it became this huge dilemma

on Nootka sound,
for people who cared about Luna.

Your natural instinct

was to give Luna that attention
that he was looking for,

but what it if was dangerous
for him?

What were you supposed to do?

At the west coast office

of the Canadian department
of fisheries and oceans,

there was a firm answer...

stay away from him.

I think that's my underlying
philosophy,

that I try to get
the message out every day,

when it comes
to the marine mammals.

I really want nature
to go about its business

with the least interference
from US, really.

You're being a friend
by staying away.

I felt
that he was desperately lonely

and needed this contact,

but everything I was told

was that it was
a bad thing to do,

so that's where I stood.

So, that summer,

a group of organizations joined

to bring a kind of tough love
to Nootka sound,

to rebuild the wall between US
and wild beings

that Luna was breaking.

It was called "stewardship."

Hey, guys?

It's an offence,
under the fisheries act,

to touch this whale.

Yeah, but you stopped,

and you actually came right out
in the middle of the area.

There's been a lot of
public attention on this whale.

It's up to a $100,000 fine,
under the fisheries act,

to disturb the animal.

The young women

were idealistic, sincere
and determined.

Please don't touch it!

Okay...

When I was 21,

I would have given anything
to have a summer job like this.

Babysitting a whale?

Awesome.

But this wasn't fun.

They had to be the bad guys

and tell people to stop
doing something incredible...

And Luna was absolutely
no help at all.

Folks!
This is not a watchable whale.

Okay? I need you
to exit the area.

Watching this whale,
or interacting with this whale,

can be subject
to a $100,000 fine

under the fisheries act.

This whale is not watchable.

Just do not stop in this area
altogether.

Okay.

Watching can be considered
"disturbance"

under the fisheries act.

Gradually increase speed.

- Get out of here, high speed.
- Try and keep your speed up.

High speed out of here.

- Increase your speed, thank you!
- Keep your speed up.

- Increase your speed!
- Don't slow down!

Faster!

Just increase your speed slowly!

In the beginning,
people were very receptive.

They were very, "oh, okay,
thank you very much.

We're out of here."

Michelle kehler
was one of the stewards.

And then it was amazing,

the amount of boats
that had engine troubles

right in Mooyah Bay.

It was just amazing.

We stopped and he
came roaring right up.

Keith bell of gold river

didn't much like
being told what to do.

There was two girls
on the zodiac.

One was taking video,

and the other one
was asking questions,

and I thought

I was being checked out
by the fisheries.

And they're thinking,

"where did d.F.O.
Even find you two

so it was difficult
to be taken seriously.

Sometimes, Luna made it hard

for anyone
to take anything very seriously.

So, touching him

is 100,000 bucks a pop
right now.

What?

And we're out here
to make that happen.

Luna... You're not helping.

Why doesn't somebody
just grab him and move him?

Because...

Don't push, Luna.

Unreal.

Ow.

Want to turn off
your engine for a moment,

and I'll see if he'll follow me?

The stewards
developed a technique

for trying to
stop Luna's interactions.

They called it "ditching him."

It felt really bad, actually,
because we would, um,

basically, we were tricking him.

Stay! Okay, take off.

If he was alongside of a boat
and pushing them around,

and they couldn't get away,
if we came alongside,

Luna would come
alongside our boat,

we would put the Fender out
or something,

entice him to come over.

We would sort of say, "hey,
come on, we'll play with you,

we'll do it,"

as soon as the other boat
was far enough in the distance,

then we would ditch him.

So the contact wasn't stopped.

It was just made inconsistent.

That must have been
pretty hard on Luna as well.

One day,
have all these people around,

and everything was great,

and the next day, nothing,

because we'd show up.

It would just
rip your heart out!

I don't want to be
making your life miserable,

but I know this isn't
good for you...

Or at least I think it's not,
because what do we know?

I don't know that we know that.

Maybe he'll just
keep following the tug.

I don't know.

Luna apparently figured out

that if the stewards
saw him coming,

they'd dash away,

so he developed
a more subtle approach,

which Suzanne later called...
"Stealth whale."

No, Luna.

I don't see him.

Oh,!

I mean, he is really persistent,

and tries lots
and lots of things,

and he's extremely charming!

And you might know
what is right,

what you think is right,

and what you think
you're going to do...

Here he comes.

He likes my bracelet,
sometimes...

And then you get yourself
in that situation

with him there,

and I think it's really tough.

I think it's asking
people too much,

to restrict themselves,

because people are dying
for that kind of interaction.

Oops. I'm not supposed
to touch you, sweetie.

Oh, we were
in a terrible situation!

It was pretty obvious
from the get-go

that this was not going to be
a sustainable means

of trying to prevent
types of interactions,

because all we were doing
was interacting with him

in order to prevent
more interactions.

As the stewards saw more of Luna

in these situations,

they came into conflict
with themselves.

They were trying to rebuild
the wall that Luna had broken,

but they loved him
when he came through it.

You sure are pretty, Luna.

Yes! You are, very pretty.

And he's playing with our boat!

When you feel like
you have that connection,

there's just nothing else
like it.

I've never experienced
anything like it.

You know, I love my dogs,

I love all the animals
I have ever had,

but this was different.

This was different.

No one knows
how Luna felt this connection,

but he seemed to feel something,

and it was strong.

He was all scarred up

from props
and other sharp things on boats,

but that didn't stop him.

And when the Uchuck was told not
to stop to see him anymore,

he adapted.

That's when he started
travelling with US.

It was like, "well,
you guys aren't going to stop,

I'm gonna come with you."

He started to
sort of commute by wake

for 15 nautical miles,

back and forth from
his home waters of Mooyah Bay,

to a place that was
way more entertaining...

The gold river docks.

But if it was fun for Luna,

it was not fun

for fisheries officer
ed thorburn.

We had to get it out

that we were serious
about interaction,

and we would deal with it.

Well, I was just...

I was just petting him,

like, petting his nose
and stuff.

Sandy bohn was showing Luna

to her mother and father
at the dock.

We're standing there,
and I knelt down,

and he came right up
to the edge,

and turned sideways,
looking at me,

and so I just
started petting him,

because I knew
that's what he wanted.

Like, he was just
sort of floating there.

And then, when I knelt down,

he just sort of rolled over
and had a look at me...

And, all of a sudden,
I heard this,

"you, there!

Get your hands off that whale,
and stand up right now."

It was a police officer,

coming to take her away.

Sandy was charged in court
with "disturbing a whale."

Luna was not
called as a witness.

After months of worry
about the $100,000 fine,

Sandy was slapped
with a $100 fine.

Did she regret it?

No. Not at all.

It's the best $100 I ever spent.

Luna!

Luna was determined,

and the tough love
was inconsistent.

He has beautiful eyes!

Now some people wanted
to do anything they could

to help him get home,

So, a noted orca biologist
named Ken balcomb,

who had studied Luna's family
for over 30 years,

offered to lead Luna
back to his pod,

with a little less tough,
and a little more love.

It was just
this cosmic coincidence.

We were given
a million-dollar boat,

and the donor felt that,

"well, this would be
a real great way to start..."

You know, the use of the boat.

"Go up and save
that little whale.

I'll pay for it."

Ken's idea offered
Luna a bit of companionship

and the chance at
getting back with his family,

and it would cost
the government nothing.

But, at the department
of fisheries and oceans,

Marilyn Joyce's boss
turned down the idea,

because he didn't want

Luna to have
more contact with people.

Here it was like everything
was coming into place,

and we were given a boat,
a magnificent vessel,

and money to do it,

but I was told that, uh...

I would be arrested.

Just tell them to dock as usual.

Okay. Luna's coming back.

The first minute we got there
was mayhem.

It was absolutely insane.

Go about their business,

ignore the whale.

Just ignore him.

It was summer again.

Luna was four years old.

Another batch of young women

came north
to administer tough love.

Now it was so tough,

you weren't even
supposed to look at him.

We were instructed

not to make any contact
with Luna.

No. Especially eye contact,

because it is just as bad
as touching him, really.

He's got something in his mouth.

Yeah, he's carrying a stick.

When Mike and Suzanne
got to Nootka sound,

Luna found their boat
at the dock.

They were determined to follow
the tough-love rules,

but they saw how hard it was
for both people and Luna.

Luna kept finding attention
one day,

and then getting ditched
the next,

and a lot of people
along Nootka sound were saying

the whole policy was cruel.

You can't undo what's done.

This is like god's gift,

and you guys
are just blowin' it!

This is now a lonely animal
that's looking for comfort.

And who made those rules
in the first place?

And who says they were right?

We had come down
a couple of times

after I had been fined.

Well, watching him
around the boats,

looking for someone
to pay attention to him.

It was very upsetting
to see him.

And I'm going to start crying.

Then, out of boredom,

or enthusiasm,

or maybe just chance,

Luna started playing
with the float planes.

It's a very bad situation.

Why don't you guys get your boat

and lead him out of here,

instead of taking pictures?

He's just going to wreck that.

That's worth a bundle of money!

And that's when
I became more insistent

that we had to do something.

Because all you needed

was something to happen
to one of these planes,

and somebody get hurt seriously
or die,

and it would probably
spell the demise of Luna.

He said, "do everything
in your power

to get that animal
off the seaplane."

He said, "if you have to
touch him, do it."

Ed said, "keep him safe,
he won't get shot."

Now the stewards had to do

exactly what they had been told
would hurt him.

They had to look at him,
and they had to play with him.

We'd gotten so used to him.

But, then,
at that moment in time,

I popped out and I went,
"whoa. Wait a minute"

and I remember thinking,
"this is so... out there.

"How did it happen
that I'm here,

nursing a killer whale
with a Fender?"

And it's looking up at me,
with direct eye contact,

it's just, "whoa."

Good timing.

Because look
what's coming through here.

You just ignore the float plane,
do you understand?

You be a good whale,
and ignore that float plane.

Good whales don't
play with float planes. No.

Good boy. Good job.

I broke down.

I had tears.

I said, "I'm leaving.
I can't do it.

I can't do this.

I can't be here,
and be a part of this,

and then watch this animal die."

Tough love wasn't working.

Being friendly was illegal.

So now
there was a different idea.

♪ Luna was a lonely whale

♪ a lonely little orphan whale

Luna's apparent loneliness

had captured hearts everywhere,

from this nearby school
to other nations.

Now, many people demanded
that Luna be caught

and carried south,

in the hope

that his family would find him
and take him back.

News stories about this campaign
were seen in many countries.

Luna seems to be
a perfectly normal, healthy...

Reynolds one of the leaders
of this effort

lived in the Canadian prairies,

a long way from the sea.

We have a river

running through saskatoon

that's about
as wide as a street,

you know, and so we don't
have any whales there.

But he started a website

that quickly registered
over 10,000 people.

All over the world,
people from england,

from Japan, Africa,
you know, every continent,

people put effort
into reuniting Luna,

and that was the moon-shot
for these people.

That was them sending
our rocket to the moon.

If we could get Luna
back to his pod,

that's what
they set out to accomplish.

♪ Won't be coming back

senators from both Canada
and the United States

got involved,

and the u.S. Offered $100,000

to help pay
for a reunion attempt.

At first,
the department said no,

and people got angry.

Certainly,
there was a tremendous amount

of political pressure.

You know, people would
write me and say,

"I just want to spit on you."

♪ a little orca whale

apparently, the pressure worked.

Suddenly,
the department changed its mind.

"Oh, man!
Luna's going to be reunited.

This is gonna be
the greatest thing ever!"

Luna's days
in Nootka sound are numbered.

The department of
fisheries and oceans

says the four-year-old orca

is now a danger
to himself and to people.

As I said,

we really did hope that
Luna could just go on his way

without US interfering with him.

Who knows what
he has on his mind,

but, anyway, we're making
decisions for him now.

The decision was made.

Next spring,

the department
would capture Luna,

put him on a truck,

drive over 200 miles,

and turn him loose
near his family.

There were cheers in public,

but there was trouble
behind the scenes.

The department's
own scientists weren't sure

Luna's family would accept him.

Most of US were not convinced
it would be successful.

Some people have a blind faith

that there is absolutely
no question that it'll work.

But a lot of US,

who actually know these animals
in great detail,

from studying them
in an aquarium setting,

studying them in the wild,
were not so certain.

What would happen
if the reunion didn't work?

Enjoy the show,

and the rest of your day
here at six flags marine world!

Marine parks
have taught a lot of people

about the amazing intelligence
and beauty of orcas.

"Shouka" and "Merlin"

are ambassadors
for their species,

and it is our responsibility

to not only provide them
with the best care...

But to many of the people
who know orcas in the wild,

this looks like a prison.

But, very quietly,

the department made
detailed arrangements

to send Luna to an aquarium

if a reunion attempt was made,

and didn't work right away.

Due diligence demands
that, okay,

if we do take this whale down
to a highly-populated area,

where there are hundreds
of times more boats,

more potential problems
for people and the whale,

what are we
going to do about it?

And that was the reason

behind discussing
captivity options.

That was their bottom line...

They were going to sell him
to an aquarium.

The department didn't say much

about the captivity option,

but rumours flew
like sparks in the wind

to Nootka sound,

and set a fire
among the first nations.

That was totally disrespectful
for the first nations.

If you want to capture a whale

and throw him in a cage
or something,

it's like, "no way."

But, now,

there's a new, unexpected
opposition.

Certainly has
a lot of cultural and...

Now,

chief Mike Maquinna,
ambrose's son,

started telling the press
Luna shouldn't be moved at all.

Myself and the people
of our nations

would prefer that, uh,
nature take its course,

uh, meaning that the whale
be left alone.

The department spent the winter

making capture plans,

and trying to maintain
the wall between species.

Friendship with that whale

would have been the worst thing
that you could have done to him,

and even if he's, you know,
frustrated, disappointed,

whatever those feelings
that a whale might have...

I don't think Luna
was really into frustration

and disappointment.

So, he took his 3,000 pounds
of muscle and charm

and went to the slow boats,

where they'd known him
for years.

He'd catch up to the boat,

and then go right to the front,
right to the bow,

and put his tail up,
or get some teeth,

on the front of the boat.

And he'd just lay there.

And he'd fall off
and get back up,

and flip over,
and get his tail on there again.

It was just hilarious.

It was time
for Nootka sound to say goodbye.

An unexpected guest had come.

He had needed something.

People loved him,

but didn't agree
on how to show it.

They couldn't even agree
on who he was.

Was he a problem, or a spirit?

Or was he just a lonely kid?

I think that Luna has
a very special situation,

and he's impacting people
in a really grand way.

It was spring.

The department brought
people, money

and tension to Nootka sound...

And, suddenly,

Luna started getting
what he wanted.

He hung out with the crew
that was building the net pen,

and ed thorburn was told
to train him with play,

because the last game
would end in the net.

When we get the net pen
in place,

what we're going to try to do,

is have him follow me
into the net pen,

close the gate.

But, you know,

that's a lot of credibility

I'm going to lose
with the animal, too.

Yeah, I feel guilty now,
and I haven't even done it.

People have been
asking US the question

of whether we're going to
intervene on the capture.

We can't really answer that
at this time, uh,

but the anxiety level is up.

Most people didn't think

this little band
could stop the department.

Ed thorburn
didn't think they'd even try.

My own personal belief
is they won't interfere,

but they won't assist.

Then Suzanne and I
came down to the dock one night,

two days before
the capture was scheduled,

and here were two canoes
out on the water.

Luna was with them.

So was ed thorburn.
That was a surprise.

But we guessed
that he'd made a deal with him,

to let them sing to Luna,
and say goodbye.

That night,

a researcher
who'd been listening for months

recorded these underwater calls.

So I remember thinking, like,
"this is new."

I just remember
they were different.

They were like...

it was more like he was...
Singing himself.

The capture team
gathered, over 150 strong.

The press was here.

Marilyn Joyce was here.

The project manager was here.

We're getting
pretty close right now.

D.f.o. Have given the go-ahead
to do the capture at this point.

So, right now,
I'm... I'm not too anxious.

But,
as the capture day approached,

the department got
more and more secretive.

Now all of Nootka sound
was suspicious

that Luna might not be
going home at all.

There was just
too many unanswered questions,

and everyone kind of knew,
that once it went into a net,

it was going to, well, seaworld,
or another form of captivity.

So I think even people
that wouldn't have minded that,

just got put off

that the government
was lying to them,

and treating people like morons.

The time came.

It was the 16th of June,

almost three years

since Luna showed up
in Nootka sound.

Dozens of journalists
came to gold river.

Most of them planned to be here
just one day.

Everyone expected

that Luna would be in the pen
by nightfall.

They were wrong.

The mowachaht/muchalaht people
took the only weapons they had,

belief, canoes, and song,

and went back out on the water.

They hadn't been
saying goodbye...

They'd been saying hello.

The number-one priority

was just to keep him
away from the pen.

Somewhere along the line,
it dawned on US,

that, "my god, we're fighting
for his freedom."

Like we're fighting for,

at the time, it seemed like
for his very life.

To everyone's astonishment,

including the paddlers
themselves,

Luna followed them
30 nautical miles from the pen.

But something else
happened that day.

As the canoes went through

Luna's familiar home territory
of Mooyah Bay,

suddenly, Luna started
jumping and splashing.

In all these miles,

this was the only place
he did this.

Orcas often slap the water
to communicate,

but what was he trying to say?

Orcas probably
don't use anything

like what we think of
as language,

but he was doing
all kinds of things

to try to get through to US,

and we were all kind of
wrapped up in a story

about wildlife management
and ancient traditions,

but maybe Luna's idea
about what was going on

was entirely different,

and he was shouting at US
to pay attention.

After that, whenever he slapped
the water, I wondered,

"what are we missing?"

The first day,
we knew we were in trouble.

So that's when we decided,

"okay, this is now
a totally different story."

Early the next morning,

ed thorburn went far
from the pen

and started bringing Luna back,

but the canoes got in the way.

Members
in the traditional canoes,

we ask you not to interfere
with this operation.

Keep paddling, guys!
You're doing good!

They strike me as being
very ready for action,

these boys.

The press called it
a "tug-of-whale,"

but maybe to Luna
it was more like life in a pod.

All he'd ever seemed
to want from US

was contact,

and now every day
was full of people

who sang,

and played,
and looked him in the eye.

People here thought
this was a fight,

but maybe Luna thought
he'd already won.

You must take this vessel

100 metres out of this area,

or you will be charged.
That includes you.

The story

Mike and Suzanne had thought
would be simple to cover

wasn't.

Ed was barking
at everyone to keep a distance,

as if he was the one in charge.

On paper, he was.

On the water,
it was a bigger guy.

On the morning of June 22nd,

after a full week of this,

Luna chose ed,
and the canoe fell behind.

But then
this most social of whales

decided to play "Bruno"
in the logs,

and the canoe caught up.

Ed got him out of the logs,

but then Luna had to say hello
to a prawn-fishing boat,

then the canoe
came singing along.

That was impressive.

I mean, we really were impressed
by their determination,

and that's when
it was solidified to me

that they weren't
going to go away.

They paddled on and on,

into the growing wind.

An ancient people,

trying to make a modern legend
of sea and spirit,

with a little whale.

But ed wasn't
going to go away, either.

Beyond an island,
he lured Luna back to play,

and the canoes
couldn't catch up.

Two hours later,

Mike and Suzanne climbed a hill
near the capture pen

just in time to watch
ed lead Luna into the pen.

My chest and my heart,
everything was really heavy.

I started to cry,

because I thought,
"oh, they've got him!"

To me, it was like,

"holy cow, you know,
this is actually going to work."

But this was odd...

The gate of the pen
wasn't yet closed.

I was willing to kill somebody.

That's what I was...

I was so furious,
it was unbelievable.

I know it was a source of
frustration.

I think, for ed,
and the d.F.O. Crews,

and for everybody, it was like,
"what

you're not going to
pull the net?"

It was like, "no, we're not
going to pull it

unless we're really certain
we're going to get him."

It was so baffling!

They had been trying so hard
for days to catch him,

and, all of a sudden,
here he is, in the pen,

and we were sure
that they would close the gate,

but then, suddenly,
like a Hollywood movie,

we hear these canoes
in the distance,

all this singing,

and Luna must have
heard them, too,

because, all of a sudden,
he slips out of the pen,

and swims off,
to be with his friends.

It was a Luna flotilla.

But then ed went out,

and Luna went over to say hi,

and then, out of the flotilla
came a little tin boat,

driven by a guy named Rudy,

and it turned into
another little tug-of-whale.

Suzanne and I
were still up on that hill,

all caught up
in this political fight,

which I guess shows you
how easy it is

to get accustomed

to even the most extraordinary
things.

I mean, there are
political fights everywhere,

but where else in the world
would a little wild whale,

by his own choice,

take all day
and make all this effort,

and swim, I don't know,
50 nautical miles,

just to spend his time
with human beings?

Two days later,
the department gave up.

We did it!
All of you, we did it!

We just did it
with some water, junk food,

and baloney sandwiches!

I was really disappointed.

I was really relieved.

We are a proud nation!

A sense of relief...

It was unbelievable.
It was great.

Our grandfathers
are smiling at US today.

It was that kind of disbelief.

But also a sense of,
"what's next?"

I would've been in those canoes.

We didn't get it done.

I was so proud of them!

And it was
a tremendously emotional moment.

Tsu-xiit is still free.

Whoo-hoo!

There is no way
that we compromise our position

in any way.

And our position is,

let nature take its course,
and leave tsu-xiit alone!

- Yeah!
- Yeah.

That was exactly what happened.

Luna was left alone.

Now that the human fight
was over,

the canoes
were taken off the water.

Ed no longer went out to play.

And you could feel
that feeling...

Like, you know,
you could just feel,

he must have...

"What did I do wrong?
How come everybody hates me?"

Mike and Suzanne
were still here.

We just...
We just couldn't leave.

The big trouble on Nootka sound
had ended

for the press, the department,
the first nations...

But not for Luna.

With so many
of his friends gone,

Luna started making more contact
with people

who were definitely
not his friends.

Keith bell's sailboat
had been damaged,

and when Luna scared him
in a skiff,

Keith called the police.

If you're going to
get rcmp into any action at all,

you gotta lay a charge
of some kind,

and I wanted to lay a charge of
attempted murder on the whale.

Well, this is the tiller
off the boat,

and he broke this.

"Whale charged
with attempted murder."

The press couldn't resist.

It was even in the paper
in Montreal,

and it came back to gold river
on the Chicago news.

But the rcmp said,

unfortunately,
they couldn't prosecute Luna,

because they didn't
have jurisdiction.

They said, well, that whale
doesn't belong to US anyway.

It's an American whale.

Keith was not amused.

I wanted the rcmp
to get involved in it,

because if there was a cougar
in our backyard,

they would have come
and shot the cougar.

This was the sort of thing

that made some people
want to kill Luna.

If he dropped the kicker motor
often enough,

the bracket would break,

and the motor would be gone.

I think most people

are afraid of things
they don't understand.

So they treat it like a rat,
and shoot it.

To hear the amount of people

that were willing to go
and shoot it themselves,

just because
it bumped their kicker bracket,

or... you know?

It says something,

I'm not even sure what it says,
but it's not good.

And then,

when the department
told the first nations

to run another one of those
tough-love stewardship programs

that didn't work,

Jamie James, who was
the fisheries manager

for the first nations,

had a different idea.

I thought it was kind of
my responsibility to ensure

that, you know, go see him
and say, you know,

"you're safe here."

You see a friendly face,
sort of thing, you know?

It's a strong bond
that me and Luna have.

I think I owed it to him,

and, you know, let him know
I am still here.

Jamie just ignored
the wall between species.

Luna would come up and play,

then he'd go off,
and go fishing,

and then he'd come back.

No pressure.

No ditching.

I was out there on Nootka sound

for about a week,
filming Jamie with Luna.

All this time, we had been told

that this kind of relationship
with Luna was wrong,

but this just seemed natural.

During the short time that fall

when Jamie was being his friend,

Luna got into no trouble at all.

You know, Luna
is a pretty strong character.

He learned to survive
on his own.

He did it all himself.

He fed himself, you know,
he did everything he could.

So, I mean, really,
I didn't do too much,

other than be his friend.

That was my...
My greatest honour,

was being able to do that.

But the department
told him to stop.

That next summer,
Luna turned six years old,

and things got worse.

People knew
it couldn't go on this way.

Something would happen.

Would he be shot?
Or hit by a prop?

Would he accidentally

spill a kayaker
into the cold water,

and bring tragedy to the people
he so wanted to befriend?

The department knew
the risks were growing,

but it did nothing new.

Then, one day,

a first nations canoe
came through Mooyah Bay.

Mike and Suzanne sat back

and watched the most simple
but mysterious thing

at the heart of this story...

A young whale,
making human friends.

The first nations
thought he was supernatural,

and we didn't,

but the reality was,

we all knew we were trying to
learn something here

that none of US understood.

There're a lot of
lessons to be gleaned

from this whole adventure...

And people have to just take it
for what it's worth.

It's going to be
different for each one.

That day, when the paddlers
tried to go to shore,

Luna didn't seem
to want them to leave.

Again and again,

he turned the bow
away from the beach.

Finally, the paddlers got a tow,
and they left him.

One day, a man named Alan Dunham

was crossing a passage,

and Luna tried to keep him
from going ashore, too.

When I saw this, I thought,
"this will be the excuse."

If he spills this guy,

the department will be here
tomorrow

with cops and nets and guns.

But Alan was calm
and Jamie was nearby,

so was Mike.

That's affirmative.
You want me over there?

Yeah.

They gathered around Alan.

Luna looked as if
he was just waiting

to see what this meeting
was all about.

Then Jamie and Luna

turned this moment away
from disaster so easily.

Jamie looked in his eye,

and Luna rested,
at peace and safe.

But the department
still had no plan for Luna

except to wait,

and let danger come again.

One day during
this difficult summer,

Mike was at the log sort
in Mooyah Bay,

watching Luna play "Bruno"
in the logs.

And then,
"stealth whale" came to visit.

So, Mike zipped
over to the dock,

hoping Luna would go back
to being Bruno.

No luck.

Finally, Suzanne and Mike

pulled the boat
all the way out of the water,

and left Luna waiting for them
to come back.

It was just a momentary thing,

but, suddenly, I'd had enough
of ditching him...

So I broke the rules.

I looked at him...

and I felt a kind of vertigo.

It was like looking over a cliff
into time,

and I thought,

millions of years,

these whales have been
in the sea,

and people have only started
getting to know them

in the last few generations.

Millions of years apart,

and we meet at a dock
in Mooyah Bay,

and we look at each other,
and we recognize something.

"This isn't casual stuff,"
I thought.

This isn't insignificant.

I don't know what it is, but...

It's not insignificant.

I looked at him,

I looked at that awareness
look back at me,

and I thought,

"we've treated you
with inconsistency,

"we've treated you with disdain,

but, still, you trust US."

"How in the world," I thought,

"will we ever be forgiven,
by life,

"by nature,

"by ourselves,

"if we let you suffer

just because you're trying
to be our friend?"

You know,

journalists are never supposed
to get involved

in the stories
they're trying to cover,

or try to change the outcome.

But, for US, it felt unethical
not to do something.

Here we were,

were we supposed to just
stand by

and not help this whale?

So, we took a deep breath

and we took a stand.

We started saying

that maybe what Jamie had done
was right.

Suzanne and Mike
asked the department

for a permit

to work with Jamie,
scientists and the public,

to keep Luna safe
by having boats always near him,

like a pod,

and by giving him consistent,
careful interaction

when he needed it.

We just thought
that if you could...

If you could
give Luna friendship

at boats that were safe,

he might not go looking for it
at boats that were dangerous.

They sent their request

to the department and the press.

They brought in a boat
Mike could sleep on.

Suzanne stayed on land
to argue for their proposal.

Mike went out to watch Luna

and to wait for an answer.

You know,
we couldn't really do anything

until they gave US a permit,

but I thought at least
I could keep watch for him.

Any sign of Luna?

No, not yet.

He should come and say
hello pretty quick.

So, in the daytime,
I would watch from a distance,

and at night, I'd anchor,
put down the hydrophone,

and listen.

And, soon, they got
a message from the department.

It was very simple.

If they got caught
interacting with Luna, it said,

they could be
charged with a crime.

You are trying to assume
you know what they need

because you can give it to them,

versus trying to understand

that these are intelligent,
social creatures,

and they have their own needs.

We just don't understand them,

so why would we assume

that we know how to
fill that gap for them,

and that it will be
better for them?

Boy.

Luna challenged
some of the deepest things

people believe

about who humans
and animals are.

Mike and Suzanne weren't
just watching all this anymore.

They were part of it now.

In November,

the mowachaht/muchalaht people

held a potlatch
for ambrose Maquinna,

four years after his death.

This was the official
end of mourning.

Now many people believed
Luna would disappear.

Right after
the memorial potlatch

for my grandfather, ambrose,

a lot of US knew
that he was gonna... go,

but we didn't know how
he was going to go.

We didn't know
if he was going to die,

or if he was just going to
leave the territory.

I can foresee the time
when... when he figures,

"well, I've done my best.

"You folks aren't
learning anything,

it's time for me to go."

He's giving US every chance.

You know, he's saying,

"here, come on, check it out."
You know?

Like,
"it's still a beautiful world."

Mike and Suzanne kept trying

to get that permit.

The department
was kind of waiting,

and the first nations
were letting go,

so Suzanne and I
went to offices,

and talked to bureaucrats
and scientists

who listened politely,

and we said, "all he needs

"is some kind of
consistent contact

"to keep him safe.

Why not give him a chance?"

Again and again,
the answer was "no."

In terms of the proposal,

moving to
that next level of engagement,

certainly,
we were really reluctant

to move down yet another step

of creating an even closer bond
with people.

West coast
Vancouver island north...

storm warning,

upgraded to
hurricane-force wind warning.

Southeast gales 4-0
to storm-force 5-0 knots,

with local
hurricane-force winds.

Winter came to Nootka sound.

A fisherman told me
right there on the dock,

he said, "Luna's going to
be killed this winter."

And I said, "look, somebody goes
out there and shoots Luna,

they're gonna get caught,
they're gonna get arrested."

The guy said, "no, they aren't.

"There's lots of
bad weather out there.

Nobody's ever going to
find out."

After the storm,

Mike went back out
to Mooyah Bay.

Luna wasn't there.

He spent the night,

but there were no calls
on the hydrophone.

In the morning,

Nootka sound looked really big
and empty,

and I realized,
that for Suzanne and me,

life had been
completely transformed

by our affection
for a little whale.

Maybe it was

that bond we so lightly
call "friendship"...

That grows like mist...

But holds like iron.

He went looking
far from Mooyah Bay,

out toward the open sea.

Then, he thought he saw a spout.

He aimed the camera.

He slowed the boat
and Luna came right over.

The truth of that moment is,

that when he came over,
I... I sang to him.

I was so happy, I sang,

and it's a good thing
it wasn't recorded.

And I thought,

"we humans don't even
understand each other,

and we still do what we can,"

and that's what it's all about.

So I thought, well, if I have to
be some kind of Luna outlaw

to try to keep him safe,

that's what I'll do.

I leaned across the wall.

In that cold water,
his skin was warm.

All my education
and training involves

things that you can
somehow quantify,

but there are these...
"Uncomprehendables" almost,

you know,
these things out there,

that something's going on,

somethin' is going on
in an interconnectedness,

of a lot of life on this planet.

If we're going to get at

that big sort of
unmeasurable thing out there,

as to what are the connections
in the species...

I think he had it.

He was just as curious about US,
as we were about him.

Over the next few weeks,

Mike smuggled friendship
into Nootka sound.

He knew he might be caught,

but at least
when Luna was with him,

Luna was safe.

Getting to know Luna

was not like
one of those fairy tales,

where people and animals
just sort of meet

and start chatting.

Up close, Luna was, if anything,

he was more mysterious
than he was at a distance.

He was a complete life,

full of awareness
and complexity,

as deep and unfamiliar
as the sea itself.

When I talked
and Luna slapped his tail,

neither of US had a clue
what the other meant.

We were like a couple of kids,
you know?

Alone on a playground
with no language to help US,

who played anyway,

because what we shared mattered.

I used to think

that the age of exploration
was over...

That there wasn't much left
of strangeness and beauty

on this planet

that humans hadn't already seen.

Thankfully, I was wrong.

The people of Nootka sound,
who looked into Luna's eyes,

went far
into the edge of the unknown,

when they tried to be friends
with a whale.

On the 5th of march,

the bilge pump quit
in Mike's boat,

and the rain filled it
halfway up with water,

which made it very heavy.

With the motor roaring,
he could only go 8 knots.

Luna loved that blast
and splash,

and he surfed along
for at least a mile,

but then Mike had to
leave Luna for a few days

for a family visit.

Then, on the day
Mike was supposed to come back,

a newspaper asked him
for a photograph,

and he watched the tape again
and stopped it right...

There.

So, the last time I saw Luna

was the last time
everyone saw Luna.

It was an accident.

He'd gotten too close
to a propeller...

But I'll never get over that.

I promised
I'd keep watch for him,

but I wasn't there.

The day after Luna died,

Mike and I went out
to Mooyah Bay

with Donna Schneider,

who had loved him
since that first July day

so long ago.

We just kept thinking

that Luna was going to
do "stealth whale"

right up through the flowers.

It's almost as if
an alien came down

and we shot it, you know,

because it was blocking traffic.

But that was one of
the worst days of my life.

Just the bottom of my heart
just fell.

I just...

God.

To Suzanne and me,

this last journey was sad,
but it was wonderful.

Suzanne and Donna organized it,

but it was three months
after Luna died,

and we had no idea
so many people

would come all the way
to Nootka sound

just to go out to Mooyah Bay

and throw flowers
for a little whale.

This is his place,

and, soon, we're going to...

Slow down, come to a stop,

and give US all a chance

to think about Luna,

tsu-xiit, our friend.

To me, it was like
an Irish wake, you know?

The best kind of farewell.

You laugh,

you cry, you laugh again,

and you're really glad
you knew him.

He has... Become a part of me.

In that sense,
he lives on, you know?

Like, he made a difference, eh?

He made a difference
in this life here.

But I think

everybody that's been connected
with Luna,

it is something special.

Just the experience
of knowing that whale

was worth everything
that happened.

He was a gift
to the whole town, you know?

For the kids just to come down
and see him...

And I will never, ever
forget that.

That will be with me forever.

I tell this story, first of all,

to let you know this is one of
the many ways for me

to remember Luna,

and it's about the easiest way.

One night,

and this must've been about
1100 or something like that,

totally dark out.

We had a little bit
of flashlight.

And you know the phosphorescence
in the water,

that glow
when they're disturbed, right?

So, we had Luna coming with US,

and, oh, man,
it was the amazing thing

you'd ever see.

He comes up beside the boat,

and he's just swimming
next to US,

while we're bringing him over,

and he's just
glowing in the water...

you didn't see Luna,
you saw the outline of Luna,

and it was just
the most amazing thing

you could ever see.

It was just like Luna dancing
in the sky with stars, man.

So, you know,
every time at night,

if I think of Luna,
I'll look up in the stars.

All lives end,

but the best leave gifts.

Millions of years

had made Luna different from US,

but he had come through
that wall

because of what we shared.

He, too, had carried
that need for others

across the greatness of time,

because it is necessary,
not optional.

As Luna taught US
just by who he was,

this thing we call friendship
is bigger than we know.

Do you see him
out there anywhere?

I don't.

I thought he was
out there by the point.

When your little boy grows up,

how are you gonna explain
all this to him?

Uh... I'm going to tell my son

about the greatest thing

that's ever happened to me
in my life.