“There goes Boo!” an excited girl said pointing over the railing of the Vashon Island ferry boat. Other people soon crowded the edge of the boat to catch a glimpse of the black and white baby orca swimming in the blue waters not too far away. Frequent riders on the ferry boat had given the orca the nickname of Boo which stands for Baby Orphan Orca. What a baby she was! She was a year old, twelve feet long and weighed close to thousand pounds. Even though she was so big, she was still a baby, on the level of a human toddler, and needed looking after by a mother and relatives.

Weeks ago she swam alone into the area. Her mother apparently died and Boo became separated from her pod or extended family of orcas. Now she was struggling to find food and keep alive. Biologists who approached the baby orca said her breadth had an odor that indicated the orca was in poor health. She also had patches of flaky skin, and looked malnourished.

Many people wanted to help the orphan.  They didn’t want the beautiful whale to waste away and die or go into captivity and live in an aquarium. It had never been tried before but the authorities decided on a risky plan. They would try to return to the baby to her pod that was over 400 miles away and see if an adult whale from her extended family might adopt her. 

Without help, Boo would surely perish.

Do you know that souls who haven’t been saved by believing in the Lord Jesus are orphans too. Because they haven’t placed their faith in the Son of God, they cannot know God as their Father. Not knowing God as their Father they are spiritual orphans. Boo was in trouble and in danger of perishing, and every soul outside of Christ is in danger of perishing in hell. If you are outside of Christ, why don't turn to Him Who is mighty to save. The moment a person believes on the Son of God, the blood that was shed on the cross washes away all their sins, and the Holy Spirit comes into their hearts and brings them into relationship with God their Father. “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” (Gal 4:6) How happy it is whenever a soul comes to Christ and learns of the Father’s love.

Let’s find out if Boo’s story has a happy ending. You know she had another name also. Scientists keep a close eye on the orcas in the Pacific Northwest. When a new baby is born they give it a number and also a name. Boo’s number was A-73 and they had named her Springer. They could also identify what pod of orcas Springer belonged to because each pod makes a unique chirping sound when they swim. Boo, or Springer as we will now call her, belonged to A-pod which spent a good part of the year off the west coast of Canada in Johnstone Strait.

After weeks of swimming alone, the time to take action to rescue the baby whale finally arrived. Men in a row boat coaxed Springer into a type of fish pen. Orcas are extremely intelligent and when they are young are easily managed. Enclosed in the fish pen, biologists fed her a steady diet and gave her medicine to make her healthy. Being well cared for, she rapidly put on a hundred pounds of weight.