We will start with a sketch of the day:
Midnight to 3:20am – The A25s, A50s and A23s were in the Strait after midnight. They spent a long time moving eastward.
6:31 am – after a break calls resumed briefly, thick fog was everywhere
8:34 am – calls were heard again. The groups were on their way west.
11:00am – Biggs orcas seen coming out of BP. They were identified as the T002cs, they go east but turn back west soon after
12:57 – 13:29pm – the A23s/A25s rub ar Strider, then the A23s, A50s, A25s head west toward CP
2:10pm – A60 seen in front of Cliff heading west
3:10pm – the A25s stay in Johnstone Strait & go west to Beaver Cove
3:28pm – the A23s and A50s head north in BP in fog,
3:36pm – the A34s pass Bere Point headed east
Berfore 5pm – the A42s rubbed on Marina Island in the Salish Sea
5:23pm – the A25s come out of Beaver Cove, the A50s and A25s are off Bold Head
6:45pm – the A50s and A23s go through Weynton back to Johnstone Strait,
7:51pm – the A50s, A23s perhaps stall and don’t go very far east, reconnect with the A25s and eventually at some point go back out Weynton Pass
8:23pm – the A34s are between Donegal Head and Hanson Island after coming east through QCS
8:28pm – the A34s head into Weynton Pass
10:15pm – The A34s heard distantly on Flower Island
10:33pm – to midnight the A34s enter Johnstone Strait head east
If we were to draw a detailed map of each day’s activity, something we have done in the past and something we now sketch out temporarily on white board, it would show whales doing their daily repeated circuits around the area. It would give a sense of the scale of their movements which for these Northern Residents is something they take in their stride as normal fare.
The A50s, the A23s and the A25s have established themselves well since their staggered arrival. The A34s, already in the area, brought in the A23s and the A25s first and then the A50s. Since then the groups have pretty much stayed in the immediate area of Johnstone Strait, Blackney Pass and Blackfish Sound, making a couple of forays into Queen Charlotte Strait for variety. They have kept together for the most part but they have made some independent choices as well. The A50s for example have travelled through to Blackfish Sound and stayed off the western end for stretches of time. The A23s have responded by joining the A50s before both groups find themselves back in Johnstone Strait rejoining the A25s who seem content for the most part to be less ambitious, electing to stay in Johnstone Strait. Days consist of travelling back and forth in Johnstone Strait, having a rub, moving through the passes, spending time in Blackfish Sound, completing the tour and returning to Johnstone Strait by the same or alternative routes. Days (and nights) are filled with calling, foraging, play, rubs, and travel.
The A34s are a slightly different story and seem to be working for their own agenda. The majority of their time, when not ushering the others, has been spent in Queen Charlotte Strait. A few times they have reconnected with the others then moved back to Queen Charlotte Strait.
August 10th begins with the A25s, A50s, and A23s moving eastward in Johnstone Strait toward the eastern end of the Ecological Reserve from midnight to 3:20am. As they did so they seemed excited at times, reunited once more after the A23s and A50s returned from Blackfish Sound and joined the A25s. The break in the constant calls after 3:20am suggested to us that they had moved on from the east end and out of range of our hydrophone. A brief bout of calling around 6:30am gave us a hint that they were not too far away. More substantial proof came at 8:34am with more calls east of Boat Bay.
Fog was thick again by morning and we just had to endure the reality of very little visibility. It was a surprise therefore to hear that Bigg’s orcas were in Blackney Pass at 10:58am. The Bigg’s were identified by Scotty as the T002Cs and before they went east upon arrival in the Strait they were off Little Hanson at 11:32am. They could not have been moving too fast because CP only saw their fins through the fog a minute past noon. CP thought one whale watch boat was too close. The Bigg’s moved on toward the Baron Reefs by 12:20pm. From there they turned west. Had they heard the Residents? Does this explain their hesitancy and slow entrance to the Strait? These two types of orcas do not mix and more often than not it is the Bigg’s who will avoid an encounter. We did take note that this was another instance of the two ecotypes being in close vicinity of each other which is something that has been occurring lately.
Boat Bay had already reported at 12:05pm that they could hear the blows of some of the west bound Resident orcas and managed to see one fin through the fog as well.
We were trying to figure out how the Residents groups were distributed across the Strait when a rub at Strider was started at 12:57pm that involved some of the A23s and A25s. Who then had been on the Cracroft island side that Boat Bay heard and glimpsed at through the fog? The rub, which ended at 1:29pm, was a good one and its close proximity to the remote camera allowed those monitoring a chance to identify A61, A60, A95. We should mention that dolphins were also around Strider as well.
Other whales were already off Critical Point at 1:24pm before the rub was concluded.
A60, who had also gone in a westerly direction before the completion of the rub, was observed by the Naiad Explorer cutting across the Strait towards Boat Bay at 1:31pm. This was at the same time that the A25s were seen off Izumi Rock. It felt as if the whales were wasting little time moving to the west.
At 2:09pm, the Cliff reported that the A23s, who must have followed A60’s lead, were passing close to the Cracroft shore. They would not catch up to A60 until past the Sophia Islands at 2:37pm just when the A50s were crossing toward CP from the Vancouver Island side.
By 2:54pm, the A23s were off of CP. With A60 in the lead they moved very slowly through the fog toward Blackney Pass. By 3pm, they had all grouped before entering Blackney Pass. The A25s, with A61 now in the rip, carried on to the west without following the A50s and A23s into Blackney. CP lost track of them at 3:21pm.
The passing of the A23s and A50s through Blackney was frustrating for those trying to observe. The fog offered no chance of any sightings. Only the vague presence of several whale watch boats indicated progress to the north. The sound of the orcas’ blows helped somewhat. By 3:45pm all the boats had cleared into Blackfish Sound. After which the orcas emitted some echolocation in Blackfish Sound and moved on to Bold Head.
The A25s, meanwhile, by 4:18pm were nearing Telegraph Cove. They would move on to Beaver Cove where they had an extended forage. At the same time, 5:23pm, the A25s were leaving Beaver Cove, the others were still in the area off Bold Head but had now turned northwest. Did they hear the A34s approaching? Kate had seen the A34s pass Bere at 3:36pm. A couple of hours had passed since then and the A34s must have been a good deal closer.
The A42s, still in the Salish Sea, had an afternoon rub on Marina Island which is between Cortez and Quadra Islands.
At 6:45pm the A50s and the A23s decided to leave Blackfish Sound and go through Weynton Pass, back to the A25s who had been calling. Once in the Strait the A23s and A50s did likewise.
The Johnstone Strait groups had the jump on the A34s who had finally cleared Donegal Head as they moved toward Hanson Island at 8:20pm and chose to go through Weynton just as the others had done more than an hour and a half before. Once finally in the Strait they moved east, calling all the while. No one answered. Had the A23s, A25s, and A50s eventually gone back through Weynton allowing the A34s a night in the Strait for themselves?
The night would certainly hold more and perhaps even new circuits for our map.
