05:18 PM PST on Tuesday, January 13, 2004

By ORRIN SCHONEFLD / NBC

Killer whales usually travel in groups, extended families called pods. But Luna was accidentally separated, and instead has sought out people.

"His situation looked pretty dire over the summer because he was bothering a lot of boats to the point of endangering people and himself," said Howard Garrett of the Orca Network.

Garrett says there's hope for Luna because another whale was reunited with her pod and quickly fit in.

"It will re-learn, how to be with their family, how to behave, how to swim along, of course how to catch fish and all the rituals and all the other kinds of behaviors that they do," said Garrett.

KING Luna is not afraid of boats and has been injured by going too close.

Dr. Hal Whitehead of Canada's Dalhousie University, writing in the journal "Behavioral and Brain Sciences," explains whale life sounds pretty familiar.

"Evidence is coming up from quite a number of species that in a whole range of ways they they're learning things from each other and they're passing it on to other whales and that's culture," said Whitehead.

Whitehead adds that different pods of whales even seem to have their own cultures even though they share territory.

"We find this situation where we have multi-cultural societies. In one place there are animals who make their living in very different ways, said Whitehead.

Whitehead acknowledges that not everyone agrees with his conclusions. But, if he's right, when reunited, Luna will have some catching up to do.

The plan is to try and reunite Luna with his family sometime this summer.