The nightly progress into Johnstone Strait via Weynton Pass must have happened at a fairly slow pace, from 11pm the day before to 3:32am when calls were heard in the Strait. That said when first heard, the whales had already moved closer to the Kaizumi beach area so they had already come some distance into the Strait. A5 (A25s) calls were the first to be identified just before 4am. These calls became loud on Kaizumi half an hour later. The A50s were also heard on other stations. Perhaps the A50s, who came in with the A25s, were further offshore at this stage.
Travel continued slowly. The whales were only approaching Robson Bight just before 6am. Again, it was the A25s who were nearest to the hydrophone, in this case Critical Point. Calls and tell all echolocation continued to 7:22am. Presumably they had been in or near the Bight foraging during this time.
As Bend’s group, the A50s, were carrying on mid strait, calls registered on more than one station at once. The whales moved abeam the Main beach. This was as far as they would go before they turned. It was now past 8am. In the next half hour they passed Robson Bight and were edging closer to Kaizumi once again. Dense fog enveloped everything. That was certainly difficult for us but not a hindrance for these whales. At 8:34am they became excited. Tail slapping could be heard, lots of calls and echolocation. Had they found a pocket of Chinook salmon? Were they just enjoying each other’s company? There were some pretty social calls in the mix of vocals. Or were they making decisions as to what the day’s course would be?
Over the next hour the whales continued west along Vancouver Island. By 9:18am calls were now mostly on the Cracroft hydrophone. As the whales approached and passed Kaikash Creek, CP heard their blows from the far side. East of Kaikash Creek the whales picked up their pace around 9:30am. Individuals were tentatively identified as the fog continued to hamper efforts. By 10:07 the whales got past Kaikash and continued west. The whale watch boats following offered information about the progress. Even by 10:30am the calls from the distant Vancouver Island whales were still on the Cracroft and Parson hydrophones, the area adjacent to Blackney Pass. Fifteen minutes later Seasmoke mentioned that the whales east of Blinkhorn were relaxed, very slow and very social, something that had started way back at Kaizumi. Before 11am it was back to foraging as they closed in on Blinkhorn.
Scotty found the humpbacks Freckles and baby, Ripple and baby, Conger and Argonaut off of Bold Head at this same time. Before this Scotty had found Claw and her baby at the Plumper Islands.
Faint calls came from the very distant orcas through the next hour as they travelled between Blinkhorn and Telegraph Cove. When the calls became clearer and more frequent we suspected that the whales had turned. Sure enough the Naiad Explorer was soon reporting that both groups were between Bauza and Blinkhorn. At 1:12pm it looked like they were orienting toward the western end of Hanson Island as they did so they spread out and crossed over.
Straitwatch reported at 2pm that the orcas were on the Hanson Island side of the Strait. Ever so slowly and individually they generally moved east. We could see them in the distance on the Cracroft Point remote camera. From CP, Jérémie and Claire, were also watching as the whales moved in different directions through the scattered boats nearby. A61, slightly on his own and seven others came to the rip west of CP. They were only a third out from the Hanson shore which they had favoured the whole time. From the rip, it looked as if a group would actually file into Blackney. But no, five minutes later, at 2:56pm they abandoned the idea and came back to the rip.
It took almost another hour before they would try again. At 3:42pm CP could no longer see them. Four minutes later they were in view of the Lab. They still were not moving particularly fast and the two groups were still mixed up. At one point the three males, A84 and A99 from the A50s, as well as, A61 (from the A25s) dove in slow unison. That was an impressive sight. There were a few fishing stops along the way and half way through, off White Beach Pass, the whales made calls. It had been a while. They fell silent as they went into Blackfish Sound at 4:32pm. It had taken them an hour to pass. They certainly feel now as if they have really settled themselves into the area.
Our orca day had concluded with their entry into Blackfish Sound.
At 6:40pm, three cruise ships in succession came through Blackney Pass. Nothing new in that but once through we trained the remote CP camera on the scene as the three ships traversed the Strait at the same time framed by the high mountains of Vancouver Island. The serenity of the scene belied the constant noise of their engines. All was not well below the surface. Almost daily cruise ships pass through.
As a more satisfying end to the day, the near full moon rose over Vancouver Island and two humpbacks, a mother and baby swam north between 200 and 300 meters offshore of the Lab. This was a precursor of what was to come. About twenty minutes later, at 9:21pm, three humpbacks came within 20 meters of the Lab’s shore! Ridge, Argonaut and one other. Their breath could be heard inside the main house. This was the third night in a row that humpbacks came so close.
Can’t beat that! Perhaps not even the humpback at 11pm who came close to lunge feed just to the left of the Lab.
