The Associated Press
The U.S. government has pledged at least $100,000 to help return a stray killer whale to the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Vancouver Island’s Nootka Sound, where the orca has been bothering boats for more than two years.
The money from the National Marine Fisheries Service should allow the move — stalled in Canada by a lack of funds — to go forward, said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Mountlake Terrace, at a Seattle news conference Sunday.
She was joined by the fisheries service’s regional director, Bob Lohn, and state Fish and Wildlife Director Jeff Koenings.
The funds would come from a larger sum requested by Cantwell for the agency’s research and conservation of the so-called southern resident orca population, now down to 83 animals — 84 including orca L-98, affectionately known as Luna.
Congressional approval is expected in the next few weeks, Cantwell said.
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The rest of the story appears in the Monday Peninsula Daily News.
