Ten years ago, a young, orphaned killer whale temporarily made Vashon her home, captivating Islanders and researchers from around the region.

Springer, as she came to be known, lived for six months near the north-end ferry dock, seeking out human companionship, playing with what was at hand — seals, a stick, some seaweed — and fishing for salmon. All the while, researchers and others tried to determine what to do about this unusual animal in a most unusual predicament.

In the end, after a herculean and costly effort, Springer became the only whale to be reintroduced successfully to her family. In the years since, she’s been the subject of books and articles, an Emmy Award-winning documentary and yearly health assessments.

Now 12 years old, Springer is said to be thriving. A celebration to mark the decade since her return home and her remarkable story will be held this Saturday at the Alki Bathhouse.

West Seattle whale researcher Mark Sears spent a considerable amount of time observing Springer and remembers her time here well.

“It was a big deal to have a lone whale like that, especially all by itself,” he said. “It was a really unique situation.”

Springer, whose scientific name is A73, is a member of Canada’s Northern resident whale population, a group that ranges from mid-Vancouver Island and north up the coast.

“We don’t get those whales in Puget Sound,” Sears said.

But, in fact, from January to June of 2002, Springer was very much here, and according to Sears, mostly ventured no more than a half-mile out from the busy dock before she circled back.

Islander Kimm Shride, a longtime traffic attendant at the north-end dock, recalls spotting Springer sporadically as early as November of 2001. She noted, though, that Springer did not fully take up residence until mid-January, when one of the ferry workers — a friend of Sears — called Sears to tell him about the wayward whale. In the months that ensued, she said, ferry workers saw her most everyday and worried if she was missing for long.

Orcas are notoriously sociable creatures, and Springer sought people out, Shride recalled.

She had a particular affinity for one ferry worker; when she came out, Springer would roll on her back and clap her fins together, and when one of the boats was tied up, she would often go underneath, click and bang against, until the workers on it came out to greet her, Shride recalled.

Islander Lesley Reed, who is finishing a children’s novel about Springer, was also a frequent Springer visitor with her husband and then-kindergarten-age son.

“It felt like a gift to have this sweet, beautiful creature visiting with us,” she said.

Springer’s tenure in the waters off Vashon followed a difficult stretch and served as a particularly welcome counterpoint to both the Nisqually earthquake and the events of Sept. 11, she noted.

“We were all traumatized,” Reed said. “Springer was traumatized, too. Selfishly, she was a joyful event for us.”

Despite the joy that comes with having a whale so close to home, Islanders and researchers were naturally concerned about Springer’s fate. She was a young whale living without her pod, was too habituated to humans and approached boats far too closely.

Whale researchers Odin Lonning and Ann Stateler of the Vashon Hydrophone Project observed and watched over Springer almost daily, they said recently. Stateler, also vice president of the Puget Sound Chapter of the American Cetacean Society, noted that Springer’s challenges also included significant health problems: She was underweight, had a heavy parasite load and carried a skin condition known as whale pox.

In the spring of that year, after much deliberation, including a community meeting on Vashon, officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in conjunction with Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Vancouver Aquarium, decided to attempt the first-ever orca relocation project. With considerable community support, in June Springer was moved to a sea pen in nearby Manchester for a month of rehabilitation and then transferred by catamaran 410 miles away to Hanson Island, off the northern tip of Vancouver Island, to reunite with her family.

She arrived on July 13, 2002. Less than 24 hours later, Stateler said, members of her extended family lined up a distance away outside her pen until she was released back to the wild.

It was a bit of a rocky adjustment at first for Springer, Stateler said. She did not settle in instantly with one group, but moved back and forth between a few groups of A pod whales. She still approached boats. One day, though, when Springer was heading for a boat, two members of the pod intervened and prevented her from doing so.

“That seemed to make a huge difference,” Stateler said.

Now Springer is thriving, experts say, and at 12 years old, may soon have a calf of her own.

For Shride, the continued good news about Springer is welcome. For a few years after Springer’s move, she and others frequently inquired about the whale’s well being.

“We were like parents,” she said. “We just didn’t let her go and never look back.”

But despite the success of Springer’s story, whale experts note that concern for whales in this region remains high.

“Springer is really a good poster child for all the threats that are facing our killer whales in the Pacific Northwest,” Stateler said.

Southern resident orcas are listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. Two centuries ago, experts believe there were as many as 300 orcas in these waters; now, there are 85 or fewer residents, Stateler said, noting that 100 to 120 whales are considered necessary for a healthy level of genetic diversity.

Challenges to the resident whales are many — lack of food, underwater noise, pollution and the stress that comes from too many vessels coming too close, a problem Lonning and Stateler say has been exacerbated by Internet postings of where whales are, making their location instantly available to the public.

Donna Sandstrom, the director of The Whale Trail and organizer of the June 23 event in West Seattle, noted the event will also include current information on whales.

“The goal is not to look back nostalgically,” she said. “Today we have not just one whale to save, but an entire population of Southern resident orcas. We hope Springer’s success story will inspire people to become engaged with issues facing orcas today.”

The celebration of Springer will take place  from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Alki Bathhouse. The event will include The West Seattle Whale Trail launch, Le-La-La Dancers, Singing Feet, Keet Shu-ka and children’s activities. Ann Stateler and Odin Lonning will also be there and offer a tribute.

For whale sightings on Vashon, call The Vashon Hydrophone Project at 463-9041.