When found, many people were pessimistic that this beautiful young whale would not make it through her first winter, let alone survive for all these years, but today we should all be celebrating the determination and strength of this little lady who remains the first ever successful translocation and repatriation of a wild killer whale.

Here is the official report from Paul Spong and Helena Symonds: "She looks great, energetic and social, completely at ease with her kin and companions. This year, Springer returned to the Johnstone Strait late in the evening of August 9th. She was with her great-aunt Yakat's 'A11' family, the group she joined soon after return.

Springer has spent most of her time with them in the years since. We first confirmed her presence visually on August 11th, when she swam close to our Cracroft Point observation station. She was amidst the A11s and some of her close cousins from the A4 pod. In the short time since her 2011 return, Springer has visited her grandmother Kelsey's group, and has also been spending time with her cousins in the A35 matriline. It is clear that she is comfortable with all of her close relatives, as well as the larger Northern Resident community she is part of."

Although Springer's aunt, A51 has now passed away, quite clearly she played a central role in helping to keep Springer from getting into trouble with people and boats in those critical days following her release.

Working in the area of marine conservation only too often sadly we hear too many sad stories about dolphins and whales, the charity is delighted with this news about Springer's successful return to the wild and as such urges everyone to support the 'Free Morgan' campaign, to help release the young wild caught orca, currently languishing in a tiny tank in the Netherlands. With your help, she too can have a happy ending just like Springer.

To read about Morgan's plight click here