There is a wall between humans and wild animals.

Luna broke it.

Luna (L98) was a killer whale.
He was a Southern Resident, born in the Pacific Northwest. For whatever reason, still unknown to us, he was separated from his pod and appeared alone in Nootka Sound in 2001.

Although Luna was physically healthy, he lacked the contact he would have had from his family. So he turned to people. He delighted tourists and drew in paparazzi, but there were concerns that his behaviour was endangering people and, ultimately, himself.

There was much controversy about this little whale. From scientists, to the government, to the local people... nobody could decide what was best for him, nor what the best course of action was.

On March 10, 2006, what many warned was inevitable, happened.
Luna approached a boat he had grown familiar with, a tugboat called General Jackson, in Nootka Sound. It is believed that Luna went up to the tugboat intentionally, to play, and was pulled into the propeller blades and subsequently killed.

The ocean is a dangerous place.

"We came to Nootka Sound...
And we learned something.
A life does not have to be human to be great.
Millions of years had made him different from us, but he had come through the wall because of what we shared. He too had carried that need for others across the greatness of time because it is neccessary; not optional. As Luna taught us just by who he was; this thing we call 'friendship' is bigger than we know."

Luna ~ September 19, 1999 – March 10, 2006


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Some of my other orca paintings:





WIPs of my art can be found on my Tumblr!

This is #1 of the 30 Day Cetacean Challenge
I painted this image from a screengrab of the documentary 'Saving Luna'.
It is a relatively well-rounded film, and totally worth a watch about this wonderful animal, who met a tragic end.

Artwork © Bandarai