It is January 2002 and a little whale is sighted by the quartermaster on the Vashon Ferry. He called Donna's friend, Mark Sears and told him there was a young orca swimming nearby and it appeared to be alone. Orcas normally live in pods which are tightly bonded families led by a female. Although the quartermaster was a reliable whale spotter, Mark wondered if the animal he had seen was a Dall's porpoise. Out on the water, Mark spotted the little whale but because it's skin was gray, lumpy and blotchy, he had trouble finding the characteristic white marking, called a saddle patch, behind the dorsal fin. After watching the whale rub against a tree stump in the water, Mark was able to identify the whale as a two-year-old female orca. He wondered why she was in the area and alone without her pod.
One day Donna went out with Mark to view the orca. She played with the stick after Donna threw it to her.
Recordings made by researchers discovered that the young orca made a call used only by a northern resident orca pod called the A4s. Each resident pod has its own unique call. This discovery was made in the 1980s by marine biologist John Ford.
The A4 pod had its matriarch (A10) and her young calf were killed in Johnstone Strait by a fisherman. A10 had two daughters, Kelsey and Yakat. The young orca call had to come from one of these families.
This information spread quickly, leading to researchers to check to see if any calves were missing from Kelsey or Yakat's pods. They discovered that one of Kelsey's daughters, Sutlej and her new calf, Springer were missing when their orca pod returned to Johnstone Strait in 2001. A Canadian researcher was able to identify the lone young orca as Springer from a photo taken in Seattle. After finding more pictures of Springer throughout the year, researchers were able to piece together that Springer survived the death of her mother and had joined another pod, following them south. She eventually ended up in Puget Sound near Seattle. It was determined that Springer was a northern resident orca whose mother had died but whose grandmother and great-aunt and cousins were still alive in Canada.
The question Donna and others had was, What should they do, if anything? In the Pacific Northwest there are three groups of orcas: Resident orcas, Biggs orcas and Offshore orcas. Resident orcas such as Springer, eat fish and normally live in large pods led by a matriarch. The northern resident orcas live around the north end of Vancouver Island and along the coast of British Columbia. So Springer was lost, far from her northern pod, stranded in the United States. She would need the help of humans to be reunited with her pod.
A team comprised of scientists from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) in Canada and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was formed to see if they could help the young orca. What followed was an amazing bit of collaboration that gave scientists new information on orcas and may help scientists save the southern resident orcas which are very endangered.
Discussion
Orca Rescue! is the fascinating first person account of the first and only successful orca reunion in history by Donna Sandstrom, an American citizen who participated in the rescue. Donna grew up in California where she often saw whales and dolphins. She became interested in orcas when she moved to Seattle. Dreams about orcas, led her to begin researching these cetaceans which are not whales but part of the dolphin family. After seeing a presentation by researcher Paul Spong on whales in Hawai'i, Donna convinced him to come to Seattle to give a talk there for the newly formed Orca Alliance. At the presentation Donna also met Mark Sears, a part-time whale researcher who photographs whales for identification and who also records whale behaviours.
In 2002 with the appearance of Springer in the Seattle area, Donna became involved as a citizen participant. How the team of Americans and Canadians worked together to rescue, heal and relocate the young orca is vividly told in Orca Rescue! Sandstrom includes detailed information about orcas at critical points in the narrative. There is information on orcas, also called killer whales, including a map that outlines the range of the different ecotypes of orcas. Other information explains orca culture, the orca capture culture that developed in the 1960's, photographs of Springer beginning when she was a young orca with her mother Sutlej to her most recent sightings in 2020 and a chart of the matrilines (showing Springer's family).
The watercolour illustrations by artist Sarah Burwash accompany this uplifting story of the rescue and rehabilitation of a young orca. Orca Rescue! demonstrates that we all have a part in caring for our world and the animals with whom we share our planet. It is a testament to what can be accomplished if we work together. As Donna Sandstrom states, everyone had an important part to play in saving Springer, from the worker who first spotted her to the First Nations peoples who sang to her as she was released in Dong Chong Bay. We can change past practices as we learn more about the animals of the ocean and we can learn from our mistakes, to make the world a healthier, more balanced place for future generations.
Book Details:
Orca Rescue! The True Story of an Orphaned Orca Named Springer by Donna Sandstrom
Toronto: Kids Can Press 2021
142 pp.
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