Springer swims free


	Springer breaches inside the net pen near Hanson Island, B.C., Saturday, as members of the U.S. rescue team, Jim Horton, left, and Brian O'Neill, look on. The orca swam away yesterday. / Associated Press Click for larger photo

The pod uses the same dialect as the baby orca, which was captured in Puget Sound and brought to a temporary home off this remote Canadian island for release.

"Based on what we saw (Saturday) night, we were quite sure that when we opened the gate, she'd go charging off. And she did go charging off," Vancouver Aquarium President John Nightingale said.

Using suction cups, scientists have attached transmitters to the orca to follow her movements. The cups will remain on the killer whale for about three days before they fall off and are recovered.

All in all, things are looking good for Springer, said Paul Spong, a Canadian whale researcher who also served on a U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service advisory panel.

"We thought it might take Springer two or three days to adjust from the trip, but she did so immediately," Spong said.

He said the killer whale was vocalizing and chasing salmon as soon as she arrived in her pen.

"She was vigorous and vocalizing and obviously interacting with the other whales. We were listening practically with our mouths hanging open (Saturday) night."

Although he's hopeful that Springer will successfully integrate into the pod, Spong said that he'd like to wait awhile longer before evaluating the ultimate outcome of Springer's rescue and transport.

Her big moment came early yesterday, when 20 to 30 killer whales swam by the mouth of the bay. The little female pushed against the seaside netting, called to them and "spy-hopped," sticking her head out of the water to see what was happening.

The whales that passed by in the predawn darkness included members of her three-member natal pod and others from their language group, called the A-clan, plus other whales. "This is not very scientific, but I think she knows she's home," said Lance Barrett-Lennard of the Vancouver Aquarium, which oversaw her care in her home waters.

Any doubts about the young orphan's response -- that she might want to stay in the pen, or that she might be intimidated or frightened -- evaporated.

"Seeing her last night pushing at the net, spy-hopping to see what was going on" made clear her interest in leaving the 50-foot-square, 35-foot-deep pen in Dong Chong Bay, on this small island off the northeast coast of Vancouver Island. "Her calls were so loud they practically blew our earphones off," Barrett-Lennard said.

The passing whales did not appear to notice her cries amid their own -- which was just as well, he said. Having dozens of killer whales surrounding the pen in the dark would have been "a bit daunting."

Springer was responding to calls to whales from subpods A-24, her grandmother's pod, and A-12, which Spong described as Springer's "distant cousins."


	Members of the U.S. team hold Springer as they prepare to release her yesterday into Dong Chong Bay at Hanson Island, B.C. Vancouver Aquarium, Sandra Stone / Associated Press Click for larger photo

The 2-year-old female, named A-73 for the birth order in her pod, arrived here late Saturday after a 400-mile trip aboard a donated high-speed ferry. The whale, which had wandered by herself to the busy, boat-filled waters of Puget Sound, was captured a month ago after whale experts feared for her health and safety.

Since A-73 was removed from a water-filled travel container aboard the 140-foot catamaran ferry Saturday, the 12-foot-long orca has been "extremely frisky," aquarium veterinarian David Huff said. The journey from a net pen near Seattle lasted just over 13 hours.

Forty salmon -- caught locally by First Nations fishermen who were granted a special out-of-season permit for just this purpose -- were in the pen when she arrived, with more in an adjacent pen for later.

A-73, which was not fed for the 18 hours before her journey home, hunted and dined all Saturday night, Barrett-Lennard said.

Her caretakers worked from a 50-foot boat, the use of which was donated for the trip, as was the water jet-powered catamaran ferry Catalina Jet.

The donation of the Catalina Jet from Nichols Brothers Boat Builders of Whidbey Island made the relocation possible, said Nightingale, the Vancouver Aquarium president. A long truck ride would have been too hard on her and an airplane flight too expensive, he said.


	Springer, far left,, approaches a member of the A-35 pod, right, after being released. The killer whales vocalized with each other. Vancouver Aquarium, Sandra Stone / Associated Press Click for larger photo

Boatyard President Matt Nichols, who estimated the value of his contribution at about a $100,000, has already volunteered use of the ferry to bring another wayward orca home. That whale, L-98, is a young male from a pod that summers near the San Juan Islands.

L-98 has been on the west side of Vancouver Island since November, and there are reports of friendly but potentially dangerous encounters with boaters. Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans is investigating and charges and fines are anticipated against the boaters, spokeswoman Michelle McCombs said.

L-98's mother is still alive, and researchers on both sides of the border hope he will rejoin the L-pod as it travels north after summer-salmon hunting.

A-73 -- called "Springer" by Canadian researchers -- was first spotted in mid-January near the Vashon Island ferry dock. Worried about her health and the danger posed by boats and people, experts took the unprecedented step of attempting to capture her and bring her home. She was caught June 13 -- underweight and suffering from worms and an itchy skin condition. Her health problems were cleared up during four weeks in a pen at a research station across Puget Sound from Seattle.

A-73's arrival here was "a very emotional experience" for orca researchers, Barrett-Lennard said. "I don't think there was a dry eye in the net pen."

But we haven't seen the last of Springer yet. Spong said that Springer's pod -- one of 34 frequenting the waters of the Northwest -- generally spends at least a month each summer in Puget Sound.

Killer whales, actually a kind of dolphin, are found in all the world's oceans. Resident pods in the inland waters of the United States and Canada are struggling with dwindling salmon runs, increasing human contact and pollution.

On the Web:

www.vanaqua.org

www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca

www.nwr.noaa.gov

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