OT-ish ~ friendly 'fish'

When we lived in Northern BC (north of this place) I remember pods of killer
whales coming up and swimming beside our boat.
Glad they didn't want us to come out and play...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Friendly' orca having whale of a time damaging boats
August 29, 2004
GOLD RIVER, British Columbia -- A ''playful'' killer whale who likes to frolic
alongside fishermen has damaged three boats in separate incidents in recent
weeks.
Luna, described by fishermen as a friendly 5-year-old whale, has made frequent
contact with people and boats in waters off Vancouver Island, about 125 miles
north of the U.S. border, since he began visiting the waters more than two
years ago.
Now Canadian officials and an Indian group that believes the animal is the
reincarnation of its late chief are working on a plan to protect both Luna and
humans. Officials hope to reunite him with his pod of U.S. relatives.
Witnesses said Luna damaged the rudders of a sailboat and two gillnetters in
Nootka Sound in recent weeks. For hours after damaging the boats, Luna bumped
and nudged the vessels, apparently seeking social contact, said Les Rombough,
president of Canada's Area D Gillnetters Association.
One fishing boat was so damaged that its 75-year-old skipper had to rig a
rope-and-pulley system to steer it while Luna continued to ''harass and bang
around the boat like a beach ball for five hours,'' Rombough told the Seattle
Post-Intelligencer.
Still, Rombough said, ''he's just being playful.''
But as Luna grows, there is concern the encounters have gotten increasingly
dangerous. Rombough said fishermen would love to avoid Luna, but ''you just
can't do that anymore.''
The Canadian Fisheries department and the Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nation -- a
band that believes Luna embodies the spirit of their dead chief -- will unveil
a ''stewardship plan'' for the whale this week, said Don Radford, acting
director of the fisheries department's regional office.
The plan will include providing public information on how to avoid Luna and
what to do if one encounters him, Radford said.
In the past, people have contributed to the problem by visiting the whale, who
used to snoop around docks and boat propellers. One person even tried to brush
the whale's teeth.
Radford said the Indian band has posted warning signs, restricted some dock
access and distributed brochures about the whale. He said the fisheries agency
issues radio broadcast advisories about the whale over maritime frequencies.
In June, fisheries officials tried to capture Luna to reunite him with his pod
as the small group of whales swam past the southern tip of Vancouver Island.
The plan was scuttled after canoes of the Mowachaht- Muchalaht lured the whale
away. They said they were uncomfortable with the plan.

**

kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

Sounds like the albino catfish I have.
If your hand feeding the koi and gold fish ...... he playfully
comes up and tries to REMOVE YOUR FINGERS!!!!
I wonder who's spirit possesses him???? Maybe Mike Tyson's!


--
My little puddle

http://www.geocities.com/hankpagel/hankspond1.html

"Ka30P" wrote in message
...
When we lived in Northern BC (north of this place) I remember pods
of killer
whales coming up and swimming beside our boat.
Glad they didn't want us to come out and play...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Friendly' orca having whale of a time damaging boats
August 29, 2004
GOLD RIVER, British Columbia -- A ''playful'' killer whale who likes
to frolic
alongside fishermen has damaged three boats in separate incidents in
recent
weeks.
Luna, described by fishermen as a friendly 5-year-old whale, has
made frequent
contact with people and boats in waters off Vancouver Island, about
125 miles
north of the U.S. border, since he began visiting the waters more
than two
years ago.
Now Canadian officials and an Indian group that believes the animal
is the
reincarnation of its late chief are working on a plan to protect
both Luna and
humans. Officials hope to reunite him with his pod of U.S.
relatives.
Witnesses said Luna damaged the rudders of a sailboat and two
gillnetters in
Nootka Sound in recent weeks. For hours after damaging the boats,
Luna bumped
and nudged the vessels, apparently seeking social contact, said Les
Rombough,
president of Canada's Area D Gillnetters Association.
One fishing boat was so damaged that its 75-year-old skipper had to
rig a
rope-and-pulley system to steer it while Luna continued to ''harass
and bang
around the boat like a beach ball for five hours,'' Rombough told
the Seattle
Post-Intelligencer.
Still, Rombough said, ''he's just being playful.''
But as Luna grows, there is concern the encounters have gotten
increasingly
dangerous. Rombough said fishermen would love to avoid Luna, but
''you just
can't do that anymore.''
The Canadian Fisheries department and the Mowachaht-Muchalaht First
Nation -- a
band that believes Luna embodies the spirit of their dead chief --
will unveil
a ''stewardship plan'' for the whale this week, said Don Radford,
acting
director of the fisheries department's regional office.
The plan will include providing public information on how to avoid
Luna and
what to do if one encounters him, Radford said.
In the past, people have contributed to the problem by visiting the
whale, who
used to snoop around docks and boat propellers. One person even
tried to brush
the whale's teeth.
Radford said the Indian band has posted warning signs, restricted
some dock
access and distributed brochures about the whale. He said the
fisheries agency
issues radio broadcast advisories about the whale over maritime
frequencies.
In June, fisheries officials tried to capture Luna to reunite him
with his pod
as the small group of whales swam past the southern tip of Vancouver
Island.
The plan was scuttled after canoes of the Mowachaht- Muchalaht lured
the whale
away. They said they were uncomfortable with the plan.



kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

On Mon, 30 Aug 2004 21:33:13 GMT, "Hank"
wrote:

===Sounds like the albino catfish I have.
=== If your hand feeding the koi and gold fish ...... he playfully
===comes up and tries to REMOVE YOUR FINGERS!!!!
=== I wonder who's spirit possesses him???? Maybe Mike Tyson's!


Years back I was given three albino catfish (channel cat breed) when I
went for some fingerlings to put in the pond. The fellow said he could
not sell em cause they were albino and no one wanted them mixed up
with regular catfish........Then last year I went to get more
fingerlings and asked the same fellow about albinos, and if he had any
more.........he siad he wished he had more as he could sell everyone
he can put his fingers on.......seems foks like them in ponds as an
ornamental type fish now.........I still have one albino catfish left
and its probably 10+ years old and huge, but not very friendly at all.
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