A team of scientists came together to share their first-hand accounts of the rescue of an orphaned orca whale.
The event, which took place at the Whale Interpretive Centre in Telegraph Cove on July 22, marked the 15th anniversary of the rescue of Springer, the orphaned orca whale first spotted in Puget Sound.
“I wish I could tell you how happy I am to be here today,” said Donna Sandstrom director of The Whale Trail and co-organizer of the event. “I am overflowing with such deep joy to be here in the room with anyone took part in returning this whale to her family - the only successful orca reunion in history.”
Springer was spotted alone near a ferry dock in Puget sound in 2002. Mark Sears, who has been working with orcas for 25 years, was alerted to her presence by a friend of his who worked on a ferry. “We didn’t have any idea who she was,” said Sears.
He said she was underweight, and suffering from a skin condition.
Dr. John Ford who recently retired as the head of marine mammal science for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans said they identified her by making underwater recordings of her vocal calls, which after analysis was distinctive to Northern resident orca whales who frequent the Johnstone Strait.
Ford also answered the question of how Springer actually ended up alone and miles away from her family.
“It turned out that in the fall or spring of 2001, A45 (Springer’s mother) must have died orphaning Springer who then, instead of staying with her related pod, ended up traveling with this G-group as an orphan,” said Ford.
The G-group are a group of Northern residents orcas that routinely travel to West Vancouver Island and the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. “The best hypothesis must be for whatever reason she got separated from the G-group that had taken her under their wing and ended up in Puget Sound,” said Ford.
“Now that we knew who she was, we decided to open up communication with a large group of folks,” said Brent Norburg Marine Mammal Specialist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It was then that experts from various organizations in Canada and the U.S. came together to attempt to return Springer to her familial pod.
After rehabilitating her in a pen, where she gained over a hundred pounds in 30 days, they transported her to Dong Chong Bay in Blackfish Sound, in hopes of releasing her at the same time as a closely related pod of northern residents were near.
“None of this had ever been done before, and we were making history each day with the eyes of the world watching,” said Dr. Lance Barrett-Lennard, director of the Cetacean Research Program at Ocean Wise.
19 hours after Springer had been put in the net pen in Dong Chong Bay, she heard the calls from her relative orcas and started screaming and calling back incredibly loudly.
“She rushed to the entrance of the bay and then went the other way,” said Helena Symonds. from OcraLab. “She went right for a stick,” laughed Helena, as one of Springer’s favorite activities in captivity was rubbing her skin on a stick.
Eventually, Springer attached herself to another whale, A-51, and was accepted into the group.
However, they couldn’t determine if the Springer story was a success until she returned the next year.
To everyone’s relief, she was spotted the next year, almost to the day of her release.
“To see this whale swimming free with her family was an indescribable joy,” said Sandstrom. “We were very lucky with Springer, it could have all gone terribly wrong - to get this whale home we had to work together.”
Fifteen years later, Springer is thriving and has recently given birth to her second calf.
“Some of these relationships built during Springer’s rescue have persisted to this day,” said Lynne Barre the lead for orca recovery at NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast regional office in Seattle.