Sgt. Jordan St. John, a member of the Massachusetts Army National Guard’s Joint Force Headquarters Public Affairs office, has won an Emmy award from the Boston/New England Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.   St. John received the award as the executive producer of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  documentary "Saving Springer: Orphan Orca". 

The Emmy was presented during an awards ceremony held May 7 in Boston. The film was selected from a field of eight nominees in the category "Outstanding Achievement in an Information Program."

St John, who is public affairs director at NOAA, led a team that developed and produced the Saving Springer documentary. It chronicles a remarkable and inspirational story of the efforts to save an abandoned juvenile Orca or killer whale.

During the winter of 2002, the young orphaned killer whale was first seen in Puget Sound, Seattle Washington.  The animal was alone, malnourished and began interacting with a local passenger ferry and other boats in the area.  Recognizing the hazard this activity presented to the whale and local boaters, NOAA Fisheries assembled a team of experts to investigate the situation. 

After extensive research and consultation, NOAA Fisheries decided that Springer’s best chance for long-term survival in the wild called for a sequence of events never before attempted.  In June 2002 the NOAA team rescued, conducted a medical evaluation and implemented appropriate treatment to nurse the orphaned Orca back to health.  Within 30 days after her rescue, Springer was transported to Johnstone Strait in British Columbia and successfully rejoined her family.

The documentary has aired on 90 Public Television Stations around the Nation over the past several months and is the first NOAA documentary to win an Emmy. The production has also won a first place Golden Screen award in the National Association of Government Communicators 2004 competition. NOAA, is an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department.