than enough to get Springer home. Namgis First Nation enlisted to catch wild salmon for Springer During one OOF meeting in June, a Motion was made by Orca Conservancy, on behalf of Dr. Spong and OrcaLab to use OOF funds to contract commercial fishermen from the Namgis First Nation of Johnstone Strait to catch and provide wild salmon for Springer while she was in her seapen in Dongchong Bay, Hanson Island, the repatriation site and territory of the Namgis. If the money were approved, Dr. Spong would help arrange an out-of-season fishing permit from DFO, and Namgis Chief Bill Cranmer would put together a boat and crew. Bob McLaughlin of Project SeaWolf, together with Lynne Barre from NMFS and other activists urged instead the use of farmed Atlantic salmon provided by a local aquaculture company, even though the First Nations and a vast majority of orca advocates in the region, including renowned local scientist Alexandra Morton, were adamantly opposed to fish farms in their waters. It was argued that the logistics of feeding Springer wild fish was too much to take on for the team, particularly so close to the capture date. There was also a question of whether OOF had the authority to directly contract vendors with its donations, although it was agreed that the coalition's by-laws did not specifically preclude it from doing so. After much discussion, Barre agreed that NMFS would not oppose the Namgis contract, on the condition that OOF provide a metal detector at the seapen site to screen the wild salmon for fish hooks which could pose a danger to Springer. When that was argued to be impractical, NMFS finally assented on a personal assurance from OOF members that they would be at the site when the salmon came in, physically inspecting the mouth of each fish for hooks prior to their placement into the seapen. The Motion passed and the Namgis were contracted. The First Nations were now appropriately participating in the return of a wayward kukawin, or orca, to their ancestral waters. And a potential conflict unfolding before the eyes of the world media was averted. No farmed Atlantic salmon would be brought into Namgis territory. Capture and rehabilitation The team to capture Springer was led by Jeff Foster, who had helped prepare Keiko for release. On June 13, with news helicopters circling overhead sending live video to millions of viewers, Foster's