Springer (born late 1999 or early 2000), officially named A73, is a wild killer whale from the Northern Resident Community of whales which every summer frequent the waters off the northern part of Vancouver Island, British Columbia (BC). In 2002, a year after her mother had died, Springer was discovered alone and emaciated off the waters of Seattle, Washington, some 250 miles from home. Because the killer whales of the region have been studied extensively, experts were able to identify Springer by listening to her distinctive vocal calls and examining photographs of her eye patch. They were also able to quickly determine the location of Springer's remaining family.
After months of heated debate, a decision was finally made to capture the killer whale and attempt to reunite her with her family. On June 12, 2002, Springer was captured and brought to a seapen in Manchester, Washington. On July 13, after being treated for medical conditions and given extra food, Springer was transported to Johnstone Strait, BC and put into her seapen at Dongchong Bay, Hanson Island. The next morning, Springer was released near her close relatives.[1] In October, Springer headed out with her family to the open ocean. The following July, she returned to Johnstone Strait with the same group of whales she followed out to sea.[2]
As of 2009, Springer has been seen with her relatives each year in Johnstone Strait, becoming the only whale in history to be successfully re-integrated into a wild pod after human intervention.[3]
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Springer was first seen in the Swinomish Channel near La Conner, Washington on January 2 and 3, 2002[4] and again on January 10 near Edmonds, WA.[5] These reports were sent out to the public via the Orca Sightings Network.[6] She was first reported to news media on January 14, 2002, when she was spotted swimming alone near the Vashon Island ferry dock in Puget Sound. She was 11 feet long and estimated to be between 18 and 36 months old at the time, a toddler by killer whale standards. Springer's presence was immediately regarded as a mystery, as killer whales are rarely seen alone, and killer whale mothers never leave their young offspring unattended.[7] Springer became an instant celebrity, appearing regularly on the evening news in the United States and Canada over the subsequent months.
Killer whale experts tried to identify the young whale, who was initially known as "Baby Orphan Orca" ("Boo") and "Little Orcan Annie", by analysing its calls.
The killer whales of the Washington State and British Columbia coasts have been extensively studied since the pioneering work of Michael Bigg in the early 1970s. Each of the approximately 500 killer whales which frequent these waters is named, and experienced watchers of these animals can recognize individuals by their unique markings and the shape of each killer whale's dorsal fin. Birth records of each killer whale have enabled the compilation of detailed family trees. They are considered the most-intensively studied and best-known marine mammal population in the world.
Orcas in the region's inner coastal waters take two forms, resident and transient, which have different diets and social structures and do not interbreed. Different groups of Orcas vocalize using different sets of calls, known as dialects. Closely related groups have more similar dialects than more distant relatives.
In February, Seattle marine acoustics specialist Joe Olson from the Puget Sound Chapter of the American Cetacean Society recorded Springer's calls in Puget Sound. Helena Symonds of OrcaLab, and Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Canada biologist John Ford determined that the killer whale belonged to a group of around 215 killer whales known as the Northern Resident Community, some 250 miles north, a group rarely seen in the Puget Sound area. Resident killer whales leave the coast each fall; their migration routes are still unknown.
It was known that A45, a female killer whale from this community, and her calf A73 had not returned to Johnstone Strait the previous summer and were both feared to be dead. Through assessment of Springer's dialect, she was confirmed to be A73. A45, also known as "Sutlej", was Springer's mother.[8] Her body was never found. Orca fathers do not play a role in rearing their young, so Springer is considered an orphan. Her closest maternal relatives are other members of the matriline (subpod) known as A24, which is in the pod known as A4.[7] A73 had been given the nickname "Springer" shortly after her birth. Like many of the region's killer whales, she is named after a geographical feature – Springer Point in southern Johnstone Strait.
Springer had developed a dangerous habit of approaching boats and rubbing against them. There was a high risk she would be hit by a vessel in the busy area, and also concern that she would eventually become big enough to capsize a small boat. One local group, Project SeaWolf Coastal Protection, started regular observation of the calf and documented a number of whale-boat interactions while Springer foraged in Seattle-area waters. Her habit of rubbing against boats and floating logs was attributed to a need for social interaction and touch. Biologist John Ford of Fisheries and Oceans Canada observed later that "she didn't have whales to associate with down there, so boats sort of became a replacement for that for social reasons."[9]
Springer was no longer dependent on her mother for milk. However, killer whales are highly social and form extremely strong family bonds. Resident killer whales stay with their mothers and their maternal relatives for their entire lives.
Springer was also thin and in poor health. She had ketoacidosis, worms, and an itchy skin condition.
Throughout the spring of 2002, scientists, conservation groups, and citizens debated the options for Springer's future. Opinions were largely, and strongly, against the idea of sending Springer to live in a marine theme park. However, Springer's prognosis in Puget Sound was poor.
Whale experts from the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Vancouver Aquarium, and other non-governmental organizations gradually formed a plan to move Springer to Canadian waters and reunite her with relatives. Biologist Paul Spong of OrcaLab said, "As a northern resident orca, A73's natural place is with other northern residents, especially her remaining family. She still retains her matrilineal vocal traditions."[10]
It was not at all certain that a move and reunion would be achievable. Scientists considered the possibility that Springer had been rejected by her pod, although resident killer whales had never been known to do this. Orca societies are strongly cohesive, but are also believed to be strongly exclusive - in a worst-case scenario, Springer's pod might respond to her reappearance by physically attacking her. Springer's habituation to people and boats jeopardized her chances of returning to a truly wild life; in another worst-case scenario, Springer would endanger humans by getting too close to boats, and have to be recaptured.
Springer's health was uncertain, and Canadian officials refused to accept a whale with any communicable diseases. Returning Springer to her home waters would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and require the co-operation of multiple organizations in two countries.[11] The process of capturing a whale, even for a brief move, carried the risk of further stress and injury.
No whale had ever previously been re-integrated into a wild pod after human intervention.[3] Another killer whale, Keiko, had been released into the wild in 2002 after spending most of his life in captivity, but lived alone until his death in 2003.
As the weeks unfolded, Springer's health improved and officials chose not to intervene. However Springer's medical problems, combined with the fear that she would be accidentally killed by a boat or that her quality of life as a lone killer whale would be poor, led to a decision in May to capture Springer and return her to her home waters.
Capturing live killer whales is difficult and carries the risk of harming the animal if it tries to escape. The team dedicated to capturing Springer was led by Jeff Foster, whose experience working with killer whales included recent work preparing Keiko for release. Previously, he had participated in extremely controversial live-captures of killer whales for display in captivity.[12] In early June, Foster's team began a series of exercises to make Springer more accustomed to themselves, tying her favourite stick to their boat and later rubbing her with their hands. Eventually she was comfortable enough with the team for them to draw a sample of Springer's blood for medical testing.[12]
June 13 was scheduled to be the date of the capture. Swimmers in wetsuits spent about an hour in the ocean with Springer to calm her. With several news helicopters overhead to broadcast the event on live television, Foster's team placed a soft rope around her tail and the swimmers moved her into a sling so she could be hoisted into the boat. Springer did not show any sign of objection to the capture.[12]
Springer was then moved to a seapen at a government research station in Manchester, Washington. For four weeks, she was given live salmon and tested for medical conditions. To avoid creating a dependency on humans, staff kept their contact with her to a minimum and released food into her pen at random times of day. Her food, sometimes laced with medication, was delivered via a chute that was arranged so that Springer could not see the person putting the food into the chute. Her health improved and she began to eat more, approaching the 60–80 pounds of fish per day needed to increase her weight. After medical tests revealed no genetic disorders or communicable diseases, Springer was cleared for return to Canada.
Another hurdle was to secure a means of transport for the whale's 400 km journey. A truck ride would have been long and bumpy, and an airplane prohibitively expensive. A boat building company from Whidbey Island, Nichols Brothers Boat Builders, stepped up to donate use of the Catalina Jet, a 144-foot-long catamaran that was capable of travelling more than 40 mph.[13]
Springer's move to her home waters needed to be timed well to maximize her chances of re-integrating into a wild pod. To minimize her habituation to humans, it was important to move her as soon as possible. It was also important to release her when her close relatives, the ones whose dialect was closest to Springer's own, were present. Due to the detailed records kept by observers in Johnstone Strait, it was known that Springer's pod appears each year between May 6 and July 25, usually in mid-July. On July 9, Orcalab reported detecting the calls of killer whales closely related to Springer, moving towards Johnstone Strait.[14]
Under the watch of news helicopters, Springer was lifted by crane from her holding pen on the morning of Saturday, July 13. She was placed in a specially constructed shallow pool on the catamaran, and brought to a bay off Hanson Island, in Johnstone Strait. A net pen had been put in place, with over 40 salmon that local First Nations fishermen had caught for her under a specially granted fishing permit.[13]
When released into her net pen, Springer was immediately active, feeding on salmon all through the night, spyhopping (raising her head out of the water), pushing at the net, and calling loudly. Springer could hear the calls of killer whales swimming nearby, which included her grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins. "She was vigorous and vocalizing and obviously interacting with the other whales. We were listening practically with our mouths hanging open (Saturday) night," said Orcalab researcher Paul Spong. Lance Barrett-Lennard, senior marine mammal scientist with the Vancouver Aquarium said that it was clear Springer knew she was home, and that "Her calls were so loud they practically blew our earphones off."[13]
At 3:30 p.m. on July 14, Springer's keepers opened the gate on her net pen as other killer whales went by, and Springer went "charging off." [13] She swam straight towards the other killer whales. However, their reaction to Springer's sudden appearance was initially to bunch together silently in confusion and alarm. After a few minutes, Springer and the others swam off in opposite directions.[15]
Transmitter devices had been attached to Springer's back with suction cups, but were designed to fall off after a few days so that she would look like a normal whale. Thereafter, scientists and volunteers did their best to observe Springer visually. In the first days, she was seen trailing her pod, keeping a distance of about half to three quarters of a mile. Her old tendency to interact with boats remained a problem; on July 16 she positioned herself near a small boat so that it could not move without hitting her. The boat had to be towed away from Springer at high speed. Boaters were asked to stay away from her.[15] It is likely that Springer's early encounters with other killer whales were difficult: she was later seen with teeth-rake marks covering her body.
Soon, however, Springer began to travel consistently with members of the A4 pod (her mother's closest relatives), and her distant cousins in the A5 pod.[7] It was hoped that Springer would form a bond with a mature female who would act as a surrogate mother. The killer whale known as A51 or "Nodales", a 16-year-old female from the A5 pod who had no calf of her own, appeared to take that role. In August, A51 was observed following Springer and guiding her away from boats, which Lance Barrett-Leonard described as a sign of "reciprocalness in the relationship. It convinced me this is not just a case of A-73 finding a placid female she's following around."[16] The bond between Springer and Nodales turned out to not be as strong as a normal mother-offspring bond in killer whales, however. Springer has since often been seen with Nawitti, a 12-year-old female from the A4 pod, and with Springer's great-aunt Yakat.[17]
Springer has been sighted each year with A-clan killer whales in Johnstone Strait. She is "fat and spunky but small for her age", probably because she was still nursing when her mother died, and suffered from undernourishment.[7] In July 2003, Paul Spong said in press release, "Springer is in excellent condition. There can now be no question about the success of the return project as it is clear that Springer has resumed living a normal social life among her kin and community."[18] A local whale watching company reported that Springer was sighted with other orcas in Johnstone Strait on August 7, 2009.[19]