May We Recommend – Saving Luna
Saving Luna is a documentary about an orca (Luna) who tried to make friends with people. The movie received 17 awards and numerous other nominations around the world.
The filmmakers got an assignment to write a story about a bizarre conflict that was developing in Nootka Sound on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. A killer whale was trying to make friends with people, and the Canadian government was preventing him from doing so.
The filmmakers were ordered to go and stay there for three weeks in order to cover the story about Luna. Three weeks became a lot more and the story wasn’t just a story anymore. They came to love the subject and they started caring about it.
Luna was a young orca who suddenly appeared in Nootka sound. As mentioned before, it was a unique case because Luna was no ordinary orca. He wasn’t distant from people like normal killer whales. He wanted to draw the attention of boats, kayaks and people. He wanted to be “petted”, he was seeking interaction.
The government wanted to reunite Luna with his family (pod) and if that didn’t work take him in captivity and place him in a tank. First nations and residents of Nootka Sound on the other hand, wanted to give him the interaction he asked for and let nature take its course.
At first the filmmakers participated in the story just as volunteers to help in a non-political way. But then, when the government’s efforts to capture and move Luna began, so many restrictions were placed on the press. So they volunteered to serve as the official videographer for the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation during the capture attempt.
During those events the filmmakers started to really care about Luna. After a few attempts to capture Luna, the government decided to leave it like it was, and told people to stay away from him.
But the stubborn orca didn’t like that, so he tried everything in his power to make people play with him. He was making a lot of “enemies” because people were given fines when they even looked at him, but he made it impossible to ignore him.
The filmmakers and the first nations were scared that either Luna would get hurt or Luna would tip over a kayak or damage boats, so they started to set up a “program” to keep Luna busy but with the least interaction possible. They urged the government to do something to actively give Luna consistent friendship, which could end the chaos and keep him and the public safe.
Go check out this amazing, touching story!
Sign up to get Klahanie event information delivered to your inbox!
