Whale unlikely aquarium lodger.

Byline: MATT COOPER The Register-Guard

Questions remain about the health of a 2-year-old killer whale orphaned in Puget Sound, but there's little chance that she'll convalesce at Newport's Oregon Coast Aquarium or other marine centers.

The orca - motherless and dubbed "Orca Annie" - turned up near Seattle in January, far from the Canadian waters of her pod.

Last month, the National Marine Fisheries Service took proposals from aquariums for her emergency care, but spokesman Brian Gorman said Thursday that scientists now prefer a less disruptive treatment.

"We have no plans to put this animal in an aquarium," Gorman said. "Our goal is to get this animal back to its family pod in Canada. It would not be in the best interest of that animal right now to put her into an aquarium."

That's news to Phyllis Bell, president of the Newport aquarium.

Bell said she's still awaiting official word from an advisory council convened to study the whale's health.

"I've been told that no decision has been made and they'll let the people who made the proposals know," she said. "I think they just don't know at this point."

Bell made her case for the animal's care based in part on history: The Oregon Coast Aquarium helped rehabilitate Keiko, the captive killer whale who starred in the movie "Free Willy" and could one day be released to the waters off Iceland.

But the female calf in Puget Sound - 11 feet long and 1,500 pounds - may no longer need the intensive care of an aquarium environment, Gorman said.

The whale "seems to be stabilizing," Gorman said - she's been eating salmon and occasionally leaping from the water - and a team that includes biologists and veterinarians will watch her closely during the next week.

Scientists still have concerns, specifically about the whale's food supply: Her breath smells strongly of "ketone," an organic compound that smells like paint thinner and could indicate an insufficient diet, Gorman said.

Orcas live 30 to 50 years in the wild and, while their worldwide population is unknown, they aren't considered a threatened or endangered species.

The highly social mammals are a mainstay of the Northwest tourist economy and their popularity has brought the orphaned orca's story into the limelight.

Conservation groups have weighed in against aquarium care and Gorman's computer racked up numerous e-mails - at one point, as many as 20 daily.

"Most of our calls and e-mails come from people who are philosophically opposed to captivity for any kind of animal, but killer whales in particular," Gorman said. Some take the position of "better dead than in an aquarium," he said.

The People for Puget Sound, a citizen environmental-protection group, convened a public forum on the whale's status and would like to see the orca returned to the wild without aquarium care, said Kathy Fletcher, executive director. "We've seen the history of whales in captivity," she added. "They don't last long."

If the whale's condition deteriorates, scientists might use a net pen to feed or medicate her, Gorman said. For now, they're simply hoping she'll grow strong and return to the open waters when her pod ventures south to Vancouver Island in late spring or early summer.

It's still not clear yet whether she needs human help.

"We need to let the whale tell us some things about herself - whether we need to panic or just keep a watchful eye out," Gorman said. ` `Go away and leave me alone' is what she probably really wants.'

CAPTION(S):

Associated Press An orphaned killer whale has been hanging around Puget Sound, near Seattle, far from her own pod in Canada.