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When Luna, the lonely killer whale, died Friday after getting sucked into the prop of a tug in a remote area that was almost devoid of boat traffic, he became the latest statistic on a long and disturbing list.

People have been killing and harassing killer whales for a long time on the West Coast. Only some have died accidentally, as Luna did.

In the 1940s, the Canadian Air Force used killer whales for target practice in the Strait of Georgia. Fishermen, thinking the whales were eating their salmon, routinely shot them. After those practices fell out of favour, the net crews arrived, introducing a new kind of mortality: death in captivity.

In the late 1960s, the sheltered waters of the Pacific Northwest became the hunting grounds of aquariums. Displayed in tanks, their normally erect dorsal fins flopping over, killer whales drew big crowds until people began to feel uneasy about watching beautiful, intelligent creatures jumping in swimming pools. (The Vancouver Aquarium traded away its last killer whale, Bjossa, in 2001.)

The live capture of killer whales stopped in 1973 after environmentalists raised protests and biologists grew concerned about local whale populations.

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Over the decades, the number of southern residents has fluctuated but remained low. In 1986, there were 74 whales; in 1996, there were 97, and in 2001, there were 80. It has climbed slowly since then, reaching 90 whales last year.

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Killer whales in the southern resident population have been listed as endangered under the Species At Risk Act since 2001. There is no reason to think they will get off that list any time soon.

The target practice on and live capture of killer whales may have ended, but collisions with ships, entanglement in fishing gear and oil spills remain constant threats.

The biggest danger, however, may be that they are slowly being poisoned to death.

According to Environment Canada, the "levels of toxic chemicals in southern residents are three times higher than levels known to cause immunotoxicity in harbour seals."

Immunotoxicity is when the immune system is altered by chemicals. No one knows yet what that means to the future of the southern residents. They could become susceptible to diseases, get cancers, or lose the ability to breed.

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