Orca Rescue!: The True Story of an Orphaned Orca Named Springer

Orca Rescue!: The True Story of an Orphaned Orca Named Springer — page 7
Soon I was spending every vacation traveling to see whales In 1992 I went to Hawaii for a conference about whales and dolphins Researcher Paul Spong gave a presentation about orcas I knew people in Seattle would love it so I asked Paul if he would give the talk there He said yes When I got home I had to learn how to put on a public event something I'd never done before My friends and I formed a group called Orca Alliance We rented a hall and made posters Near where I live there is an outdoor pool with a pool house During winter when the pool was closed someone had taped photos of orcas to the pool house windows I slipped a poster under the door hoping whoever took the pictures would find it The night of the presentation I met Mark Sears the pool caretaker He grew up on Puget Sound watching orcas and became a part time whale researcher When whales are near he takes photos to identify them and records their behaviors We have been friends ever since In 1993 I started working at a software company an exciting place where I learned how to manage projects and teams And through it all I wrote poems and stories and journals where I kept track of my orca dreams The strands of my life came together in 2002 when a young orca was discovered alone near the north end of Vashon Island This is the true story of what happened next