Operation Orca; Springer, Luna and the struggle to save west coast killer whales

SciTech Book News, March, 2008

Operation Orca; Springer, Luna and the struggle to save west coast killer whales.

Francis, Daniel and Gil Hewlett.

Harbour Publishing

2007

280 pages

$34.95

Hardcover

QL737

In January 2002, a young orca (or killer whale) was spotted lost in the Pacific Northwest waters of Puget Sound. Dubbed "Springer," the sea mammal became the focus of a capture and relocation operation. During Springer's transport, "Luna," another young orca, turned up in similar circumstances off the west coast of Vancouver Island and became the focus of a less successful relocation effort. The authors of this book (one of whom was a longtime biologist with the Vancouver Aquarium, Canada) tell the stories of these two whales and connect them to the larger picture of the endangered killer whales of the Pacific Northwest and their relationship to humans. Distributed in the US by Graphic Arts Center Publishing.

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