Little orca is looking well; tests due soon

The wandering orphaned orca that has taken up residence off Vashon Island appears to be doing pretty well, and federal fisheries officials said yesterday that they should have a more precise fix on her health in about a week.

The orca, known as A-73, has been hanging around between Vashon and West Seattle since mid-January. Authorities initially were disturbed by what appeared to be periods of malaise, suggesting sickness and signs of malnutrition.

But 10 days of careful observation by orca scientists suggested that the 1 1/2-year-old orca is doing OK, especially considering that orcas are highly social animals and this one hasn't had contact with any of her own kind for months.

"She appears to be doing relatively well, given her circumstances," said Brian Gorman, a spokesman for the National Marine Fisheries Service. "We'll certainly continue keeping an eye on this animal."

The scientific team, which includes NMFS scientists and experts from outside the agency, reported informally on the orca's status yesterday. It plans a formal written report later this week, Gorman said.

Orcas enjoy life spans similar to those of humans, and in their first few years, generally rely on older orcas to train them in hunting and other life skills, much as human babies rely on their mothers. A-73 has shown signs of malnutrition -- not surprising in an animal roughly equivalent to a human baby or toddler in development.

One of those signs of malnutrition is an odd odor on her breath, the scent of ketones, which are produced in the liver when a mammal's body is not getting enough food and burns stored fat for energy.

"It means she's metabolizing fats. Is she doing it at a scary rate, or is this just a fallow period? We don't know," Gorman said.

That could soon change. The observers' biggest coup over the weekend was managing to capture a sample of the whale's respiratory gasses, which can be tested for ketone content. Results will take about a week, Gorman said.

Researchers are encouraged because the breath analysis, which can be compared with healthy orcas, will mark the first quantifiable and objective piece of information about the orca's condition.

Ken Balcomb, senior scientist at the Center for Whale Research at Friday Harbor, said observers including his son, Kelley, are preparing a report to the fisheries service after observing the orca playing with sticks and eating fish.

"The conclusion was that she's not in a normal situation, but for her situation, at least she's not 'funking out' and going into a downhill behavior pattern," Balcomb said. He said some observers described the animal's condition as "guarded."

Researchers were able to extend a funnellike measuring device near the animal's blowhole and get a breath sample when the orca was playing with a stick next to their boat, he said.

"She was so involved in playing with the stick that, once she learned this (device) wasn't any threat to her, she didn't care if they put it over her head," Balcomb said.

The orca arrived in central Puget Sound after she became separated from her extended family, or pod, after her mother died. It's possible she simply couldn't keep up with the pod, but it's also possible that the pod rejected her, scientists have said.

She wandered way off course. Her pod normally hangs around northern Vancouver Island in the summer and almost never comes into Puget Sound.

Orca activists hope the young killer whale can be reunited with her pod when the pod reappears near Vancouver Island in June or July.

That hope is kept alive as long as A-73 doesn't show signs of a sudden decline.

"The fact that she's doing something is quite encouraging," Balcomb said.

"When they go into a funk and just lay there, that's when they go into a downhill trend."

P-I reporter Robert McClure can be reached at 206-448-8092 or robertmcclure@seattlepi.com

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