Capture of orca goes smoothly

MANCHESTER, Kitsap County -- After months of concern and indecision and preparation, it took just 15 seconds to lasso Puget Sound's orphaned baby orca and get her calm enough to be placed in an underwater sling.


Springer ducks up out of the water at her temporary holding pen at a research facility in Manchester, Kitsap County. The ultimate goal is to reunite the orphaned orca with its pod off Vancouver Island, B.C. Associated Press Click for larger photo

The flawless capture was led by orca expert Jeff Foster, who looped a soft rope around the whale's tail before leaping into the waters off Vashon Island yesterday afternoon.

The 2-year-old female, nicknamed Springer, thrashed a few times and tried to dive, churning up white water. Other team members jumped in to help control the 1,240-pound, 11-foot-long creature.

"This is a very dangerous time," Lynne Barre, a National Marine Fisheries Service biologist told reporters. "They need to be extremely careful right now, with the people in the water, and the boats and the whale."

But a few seconds later, the white water smoothed to blue-green and the whale stopped struggling as Foster pulled his knees up under the whale's head and held her head soothingly in his hands.

"Everything went as if the animal knew what to do," said Jim McBain, a Sea World veterinarian who assisted the team. "She handled it well. She was very cooperative."

Within 15 minutes, Springer was being lifted out of the water on the specially built sling. She became the first of her kind to be captured in Puget Sound in 26 years.

Just over an hour later, the adventure ended about five miles away. Removed from the 65-foot transport barge with a crane, the playful whale was turned loose in a net pen outside the federal agency's research facility here on Kitsap Island, along the Sound's western shore.

"Everything happened just as we hoped it would," a sunburned, sweat-soaked Bob Lohn, NMFS regional administrator, said afterward. "We are just thrilled. The rescue phase is over and now the rehabilitation can begin."

The dramatic capture sets the stage for the sickly whale to be nursed back to health for several weeks and returned to her whale family in Canada. But whether that joyous reunion will occur remains far from certain.

Brad Hanson, the fisheries service biologist who has had the most contact with Springer, attributed the successful capture early yesterday afternoon to efforts to get the whale comfortable around her handlers.

Several weeks ago, he and others began scratching the animal's skin with a knobby, 3-foot piece of driftwood. This seemed to satisfy her need for social contact and to soothe itchy places on her skin created by a condition known as whalepox.

Later, Hanson, Foster and others taught the whale to slow down when they held their hands on her. All of that was in preparation for the capture. Teaching the whale "was kind of an evolutionary process," Hanson said.

That bonding paid off yesterday. As soon as the team's boats approached shortly after 1 p.m., the orca came alongside Hanson's boat without being coaxed.

"They've got the stick in the water," Barre reported a minute later, referring to the driftwood back-scratcher.

Conservationists familiar with orca behavior watched the capture anxiously. The 15 seconds "felt like 15 years," said Michael Harris, president of the Orca Conservancy.

"It was a very tense moment when they had to get the rope around her," Harris said. "There were so many things that could have gone wrong, and nothing went wrong. It was like delivering a baby."

Spectators gathered at the Vashon ferry dock, and some shed tears, knowing it would likely be the last time they saw the whale.

As the capture unfolded, passengers aboard a state ferry bound for West Seattle craned to catch a glimpse.

Sally Hough, 37, squinted into the distance as four boats closed in on the snared whale.

"Did they get her? Do they have her?" the California native asked. "I borrowed someone's binoculars while I was waiting for the ferry, but, honestly, ... I couldn't see much then either."

"Why are they catching her?" asked Bruce Hearns, 42, looking through binoculars. The Seattle hairdresser had heard of Springer, but he had no idea that the rescue mission was under way. And he wasn't entirely convinced she needed rescuing.

"If she's healthy enough to splash around," he said, "why not just leave her alone?"

When will Springer be sprung?

She will stay in her 40-by-40-by-15-foot pen here for two weeks. Then she may be moved to a somewhat larger pen nearby. If she receives a clean bill of health, she could be transported back to Canada for a midsummer reunion with her long-lost whale family, or pod.

But that chain of events is far from certain.

Canadian officials have said they will not allow the whale to be returned to their waters unless they are convinced A-73 is free of communicable diseases. If they are not convinced, or if the whale's health declines, the National Marine Fisheries Service would have to decide what to do. Such a situation is unprecedented, and Lohn refused to speculate on how it might be resolved.

"We'll wait until we have information before making a decision," he said. "We're not looking for an animal in absolutely flawless health. We're looking for an animal that has a reasonable chance of surviving," and early indications are A-73 can be nursed to that state of health.

Orca conservation organizations are picking up part of the tab for the rescue effort -- federal grants are expected to cover just $200,000 of the cost, and the final tab is not yet known -- and they have vowed to fight any move to place the orca in an aquarium. In fact, they will oppose anything but turning her loose with her kind.

The whale first appeared in the waters between West Seattle and Vashon Island in mid-January. Using recordings of her squeaks, squeals and other vocalizations, scientists traced her to a whale pod that returns each summer to the waters off Vancouver Island, B.C.

She became separated from the pod about the time her mother died, but the family group still includes her grandmothers and cousins. Though no young orcas have been known to rejoin their pods after leaving, it is unclear whether one has ever been separated from its pod under these circumstances.

"To me, this is a big question now -- is she going to know she's a killer whale and go with those animals?" said McBain, the vet.

McBain said much remains to be learned about the orca's health. For instance, he said, she may still have some sort of metabolic disorder, something akin to anorexia. The first order of business is to get her eating again, he said.

Fisheries service officials hope to fatten her up with a diet of live salmon provided through a long tube, so she won't get the idea that people equal food. And they want to see the results of medical tests, including those on her blood, urine and skin.

They also want to solve one of the biggest mysteries about the whale: Why does her breath have a paint thinner odor? This is a sign of ketosis, which can signify a serious underlying medical problem.

"It's not like everybody can cheer," McBain said. "It's like running a hurdle race. We're past this hurdle and now we're on to another."

KEY DATES

January 2002 -- "Springer" (officially known as A-73) is first spotted in the waters between Vashon Island and West Seattle. Studying her squeaks and squeals, scientists trace the young female to her whale family, or pod.
Feb. 28 -- National Marine Fisheries Service asks conservationists what should be done about the orphan orca.
March 1 -- Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre proposes capturing Springer to reunite her with her family off the coast of Vancouver Island. Aquariums and theme parks make bids to care for the whale.
March 5 -- Breath tests confirm scientists' suspicions that the whale suffers from ketosis, a condition associated with starvation or digestive disorders.
March 13 -- Springer will not be cooped up in an aquarium or sea park, fisheries service decides.
April 13 -- Fisheries service hires team to shoo boaters away from Springer.
May 2 -- Scientific panel appointed by fisheries service recommends capturing the whale; agency wants to know more about her condition.
May 16 -- Blood tests rule out genetic disorder.
May 24 -- Fisheries service announces plan to capture Springer with either a soft rope lasso or net pen.
Wednesday -- "Wet run" by capture team deemed a success.
Yesterday -- Springer captured north of Vashon Island, transported to holding pen off Kitsap Peninsula near Manchester for treatment.
This summer -- Plans call for Springer to be reunited with relatives off the coast of British Columbia.

P-I reporters D. Parvaz and Lisa Stiffler contributed to this report. P-I reporter Robert McClure can be reached at 206-448-8092 or robertmcclure@seattlepi.com

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