Mukilteo Musings

Three Orcas

1. Springer. Springer was a baby female orca whose mother had died. She became separated from her pod--the A pod--out of Canada and spent months by herself in Puget Sound waters. Boats were becoming her friends. After a gigantic ,risky, experimental and, yes, expensive effort, Springer was reunited with her pod almost two years ago. I cried as I watched on TV the efforts. Orcas spend their entire lives with their Moms. Even after a male orca mates and becomes a father, he remains with his Mom. Maybe this is why I love orcas so much. Anyway, since Springer's Mom was gone, nobody knew if she would be accepted or rejected. (Poor Keiko out there in Iceland with his gimpy fin was never accepted by the wild orcas. We never knew if he had found his original pod and sadly, he died alone in Norway after a long search) But Springer's aunts and other female relatives knew who she was, actively disciplined her about boats and she was seen last summer swimming and living successfully with her family pod.

2. Luna. Luna is a young male orca who was separated from his pod, the L pod. The L pod is a Puget Sound group and Luna is stuck up in Canada---just the reverse of the Springer situation. He, too, is making friends with boats. Since the Springer project was so successful, efforts are underway to reunite Luna with his pod. Evidently, the U.S.Navy, in an attempt to make up for their questionable use of sonar that may have killed and hurt some local dolphins and orcas, has offered to help reunite Luna with the L pod and to provide a tracking device. A Luna Rescue fund exists and more information can be found at projectseawolf.org.

3. Doublestuf. Doublestuf is my orca. The Whale Museum in Friday Harbor, WA (in the San Juan Islands) has a whale adoption program that helps fund educational programs and research. Through this program, members of the public are able to sponsor an orca. My husband has given me my orca for two Christmases and it is the best present ever. We picked Doublestuf because his mother's name is Oreo and that just happens to be my mother's dog's name.

When you sponsor an orca, you receive all sorts of information. I know my orca is a male and he was born in 1997; he has no siblings and his mother is quite young but an excellent Mom. He is a member of the J pod which is often seen right out here in our local waters. Orcas are identified by their markings--they may be black and white but the colors are in different spots on each whale--no two look alike. Also, of course, we know they communicate easily with one another. Each pod has its own dialect. We know from "Shamu" that orcas are able to learn English but humans cannot speak or understand orcanish.

The Puget Sound Orcas, J, K, and L pods are now listed as endangered. One of the major causes is a decline in salmon, their main food source. I used to feel guilty about eating orca food because I like salmon so much. But actually, I only eat wild line caught salmon. The destruction of salmon is mainly caused by the destruction of their river spawning caused by stream side logging, dams, and salmon farming (hatcheries). More information on orca adoption can be obtained from whalemuseum.com.