The morning of August 13th started early with Biggs calls in Johnstone Strait just after 1am. They were very brief, lasting just a couple of minutes.
By late morning, the fog had lifted around the Lab, and several feeding humpbacks were visible in Blackney Pass. With the ebbing current, Guardian and her 2026 baby Sentinel, Ripple, Squiggle, and one other humpback were all using a combination of lunge and trap feeding opposite the Lab before moving down to the entrance to Blackney Pass and off Cracroft Point to feed. Our Cracroft Point outpost, “CP”, was recently finished, and we look forward to having assistants there going forward to help not only track the movements of Northern Residents in Johnstone Strait, but also to help identify the humpbacks feeding in that area.
No sign of the Northern Residents, who had been in the area the previous day, until 11:20am, when there was a report of the A25s. Olivia, located on Donegal Head, reported hearing on the VHF that there was a group of Northern Residents near Penfold Island, later identified by Scotty as the A25s, and another group near Lizard Pt. off Malcolm. By 12:35pm, Olivia reported that the A25s were just off Donegal Head and heading for Weynton Passage. Marieke, a naturalist on the Naiad Explorer, noted that they, travelling with the current, “fired through Weynton in a matter of minutes” and into Johnstone Strait. Sure enough, by 1:50pm calls from the A25s were heard on the Strider Rubbing Beach hydrophone that ranges far to the west in the Strait.
Around 2:45pm, the A25s, after coming eastward, were spotted on the Cracroft Point camera, where they spent some time foraging before continuing east. As they traveled, there were occasional faint calls on the Strider Rubbing Beach and Critical Point. hydrophones. Just before 4pm the A25s appeared on the Robson Bight camera, where they foraged until about 4:40pm before traveling east to Strider Rubbing Beach. The A25s went for a short run lasting from 4:59pm to 5:03pm before continuing east. As they traveled, they were very active on the surface, doing lots of spyhops and the occasional breach!
Just after 10pm humpback social calls began in Blackfish Sound and continued until just after 11pm.
