Springer To Begin Journey Home Friday

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By By KOMO Staff & News Services

Summary

Marine officials say they're ready to move the orphaned orca to her native waters off of Vancouver Island.

Story Published: Jul 9, 2002 at 10:18 AM PDT

Story Updated: Jul 24, 2009 at 11:01 AM PDT

Springer To Begin Journey Home Friday
KITSAP COUNTY - The orphan killer whale plucked from Puget Sound in June is heading back to her home waters this Friday aboard a high-speed catamaran ferry.

Her caretakers in the United States and Canada hope she'll rejoin her family near Vancouver Island later this summer.

The 2-year-old orca -- dubbed A-73 for her birth order in Canada's A-pod, but informally known as "Springer" -- has been gobbling up salmon and regaining her health since her June 13 capture and transfer to a holding pen across Puget Sound on the Kitsap Peninsula.

After extensive tests, experts have determined she's healthy enough to go back to the wild and will not bring any communicable diseases along with her.

There's no guarantee she will rejoin her family group, but scientists with the National Marine Fisheries Service and Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans say they're hopeful.

If she doesn't join them, researchers say remote Johnstone Strait will be safer for her than the busy waters of Puget Sound, where she was spotted near the Vashon Island ferry dock in mid-January.

She will make the 400-mile journey home in an 18- by 5 1/2- by 5 1/2-foot box of water aboard a 140-foot high-speed ferry called the Catalina Jet.

The boat was made available for the project by its builder, Nichols Brothers Shipbuilders of Whidbey Island. The trip is expected to take 10 to 12 hours.