Calgary Sun
Mon, July 23, 2007
Whale reunion has happy ending
UPDATED: 2007-07-23 01:40:18 MST

By CP

VANCOUVER -- The story of a small, emaciated killer whale wandering alone off the coast of Washington State couldn't have ended any better if it were a movie.

Five years after a massive effort by marine experts, volunteers and government officials in Canada and the U.S., Springer is thriving with her family's pod.

"From the get-go this seems to have been made in Hollywood somewhere," said Brian Gorman, a spokesman for NOAA -- the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration -- in the U.S.

"Our goal was to get her back with her family pod, and by that standard it certainly was a remarkably happy ending."

Dozens of people who helped in the calf's rescue five years ago returned to the same area on the northern end of Vancouver Island in hopes of spotting her once again, and she and her pod showed up as if on cue.

"I was unprepared for how emotional it would be to actually see Springer so healthy and happy and well-adjusted and actually integrated with the group," said Dr. Lance Barrett-Lennard, a marine mammal scientist with the Vancouver Aquarium.

Springer has settled in with a small pod which includes a great aunt and a newborn calf.

Experts knew their best chance of getting Springer to reconnect with her northern resident pod, the so-called A pod, was to release her in the same area the pod frequents.