First Killer Whale Reintroduced to Wild Has Baby
Springer, who was rescued in 2002, is a success story, experts say.
In 2002, a young killer whale named Springer was reintroduced to her pod in northern Vancouver Island (map), Canada, after she was found orphaned in Puget Sound (map), about 300 miles (480 kilometers) south of her home.
No one knew if the move would hurt the whale or her chances for reintegrating back into the pod and one day becoming a healthy mother. (See National Geographic's whale pictures.)
Finding Springer with her baby is "the ultimate sign that this whole reintroduction was a success. It was very exciting," said Graeme Ellis, a research technician with Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Pacific Biological Station. Ellis spotted the 13-year-old orca and her calf last week on the central coast of British
