Luna/Tsuxit

Gold River received tremendous media coverage worldwide in July 2001 when Luna the Killer Whale became a media sensation when he turned up in Nootka Sound after being separated from his pod in Puget Sound in Washington. Attempts to reunite Luna (L98) with his family were suspended, as the Mowachaht and Muchalaht First Nations believed Luna, or Tsuxit, embodied the spirit of Chief Ambrose Maquinna, who had died just days before the whale was first seen in the area. The orca loved to play around boats, and sadly this ultimately led to his death in March 2006, when Luna got too close to the propellers of a tug boat in Mooyah Bay, one of Luna’s favourite places in winter.