When a lost orphan killer whale found Vashon’s north end in 2002, Ann Stateler and Odin Lonning became the 2-year-old’s self-appointed honorary nannies.

They spent countless days at the north-end ferry dock beach, watching over the young orca and keeping boats from getting too close to her.

When it became clear that the black-and-white whale had no plans to leave, scientists and conservationists banded together to reunite Springer with her native pod. Stateler and Lonning were among those who sang a goodbye song to Springer as she was taken from Vashon’s waters to a seapen to be made healthy again. The couple were on hand in British Columbia to send her off to her family, and five years later, on July 13, 2007, the duo saw Springer once more, at a reunion of those who had successfully reintroduced the young orca to her pod.

Today, these two Islanders — founders of the Vashon Hydrophone Project — are considered among the most passionate advocates for the large cetaceans.

Lonning, an acclaimed Native artist, has often depicted the orca in his work. And Stateler is so devoted to the killer whale that she was long ago given the fitting nickname “Orca Annie,” a moniker that’s stuck.

Her respect for the graceful creatures, which she says are among the most beautiful in the world, is evident as she discusses her work with orcas and the Hydrophone Project.

“Killer whales are one animal where we can say they have a culture and they have a tradition. There’s a body of knowledge they pass down,” said Stateler, a matter-of-fact and serious conservationist. “They’re extremely intelligent. I think it’s quite possible they’re more intelligent than we are.”

Stateler and her husband Lonning have been observing and collecting data on orcas for years. Stateler moved to Vashon in 1992, in part because orcas frequent its waters. And in 2004, the Vashon Hydrophone Project began when a hydrophone, or underwater microphone, was installed about 100 feet off the shore of Cove Walk on Vashon’s west side. It records whale vocalizations whenever they occur and transmits them through thick wire to a computer inside Stateler and Lonning’s beachfront cottage on Cove Walk, a home the calm and collected pair share with their dog, Stogarita.

“Even if you can’t see them, you can hear them,” Lonning said of the whales.

Orca whales make a variety of sounds when they’re communicating underwater — from clicks and chirps to squeaks, whistles and screams. And the hydrophone captures them all, preserving them for study and analysis.

“It’s a matter of who’s where and when,” said whale researcher Mark Sears, who has known Stateler for more than 15 years. “Having that listening device in the water like Annie has is very helpful. We know who’s where when, and it’s a matter of keeping tabs on them over the course of a winter, or over the course of a decade, looking at trends.”

Vashon’s hydrophone is one of several in the Puget Sound, and it’s well placed — Vashon is the only island in central Puget Sound that is circumnavigated by whales. In some cases, the hydrophone’s recordings of whale vocalizations are the only evidence that the whales visited Vashon at a particular time.

Stateler and Lonning are “waking people up to how frequently whales visit this part of Puget Sound,” said Kathy Fletcher, executive director of People for Puget Sound. “Most people have this impression that orca whales live in the San Juan Islands. It helps when people like Ann are documenting this. It helps people understand why we need to protect all of Puget Sound.”

The husband-and-wife pair is committed to preserving the Puget Sound’s whale population. Their work goes beyond the non-invasive data collection of recording whale vocalizations: The duo educate people of all ages about their marine neighbors, help perform marine mammal rescues, and in the event that an oil spill hits the region, the pair are prepared to respond and clean up the spill.

It’s critical that people are good neighbors to the marine animals who live here, Stateler and Lonning said. The populations of some species are dwindling, and humans are much to blame. Take the Southern Resident Orca population, for instance. There are 89 in that killer whale population, which is the group that lives in the waters between British Columbia and northern California. Compare that to the 2,000 orcas who likely lived in and around the Puget Sound just 300 years ago, Stateler said.

While Native American peoples respect killer whales, European settlers to the region were afraid of them and killed them, shooting the sometimes curious and friendly whales in large numbers.

Stateler and Lonning, both of whom have Native ancestry, hope to impress upon people the importance of caring for the whales, even treating them as sacred.

“I feel that the killer whale is sacred, and I think that really has an influence on the work we do,” Stateler said. For Native people, “the killer whale is one of the most revered and sacred animals, a spiritual ally. … I’m not sure Western society is at that place with respect for killer whales.”

The Vashon Hydrophone Project welcomes donations, but even more importantly, asks people to report all whale sightings to 463-9041. Visit www.vashonorcas.org for more information about the project.