First there were four, then three, then two and now one (sort of, we will explain later)! The Resident orcas had changed it up a bit. This day, the A25s “held the fort” in Johnstone Strait while the others were off elsewhere but not too far away as revealed later in the day.
The A25s announced they were back in the Strait by 2:34am. They were going east. The trio of three quick rubs over Strider Beach between 4:54am and 4:56am invoked the image of each of the three A25s not being able to resist that feel good touch of the beach as they went in succession to the east. Just east of the Ecological Reserve they turned on the cue of a few calls. This almost fit the report of orcas heading west at 6:40am. The report said 4 not 3 orcas. But assuredly it was the A25s who arrived in short order off Robson Bight at 7:22am.
It was a beautiful sunrise full of colour but perhaps change as well.
Next milepost along the Vancouver Island shore was Kaizumi which they passed between 9:36am and 9:42am. Making good time they were off Kaikash Creek at 10:02am. A bunch of dolphins had decided to join them.
From Kaikash they left the Vancouver Island shore to cross toward Cracroft Island at 10:14. This exercise might have been a bit tiring as they slowed down when off the far side of the rip and as they moved slowly toward Blackney Pass. It would take them a while longer to actually move into the Pass. First they went a bit further west then at 11:14am made the effort to head into Blackney.
It was quite misty. A “scotch mist” of sorts making the A25s barely visible to those watching from the deck of the Lab. They eventually came halfway along the shore of Parson Island by 11:17am then turned back toward Johnstone Strait sometime around 11:45am. We were not quite sure of the time because visibility was so poor. But by at least 12:07pm they were back in the Strait resuming their westerly travel up the shoreline of Hanson Island.
By 1pm the A25s made it to the western end of Hanson Island. Somewhat surprisingly the A25s showed an inclination to cross back to Vancouver Island between 1:27pm and 1:38pm toward the Blinkhorn light.
This was close to the time we heard about a group of orcas found off the White Cliff Islets in Queen Charlotte Strait turning enticingly towards Bold Head. By 2pm, they would be identified as the A34s!
By 2:35pm the A25s were nearing Telegraph Cove and almost inevitably slipped into Beaver Cove an hour later.
Time passed. At 6pm, the A25s were seen coming out of the fog line angling toward CP. With Surge (A61) in the lead his little group headed into Blackney Pass together at 6:28pm. Moments later they were back in view. As Surge stayed in the lead, the group travelled mid channel until they went out of sight at 6:46pm.
We then experienced our second heavy downpour of the day. Welcome rain. The gardens, the forests were replenished, the rain barrels filled and we dreamed of the possibilities of a shower the next day.
We had a small problem in the Lab which resulted in the Flower Island system in Blackfish Sound being compromised. We were not able to immediately hear the A1 calls which were happening. Just as we fixed the problem we heard A50 calls and we knew then that all three groups were about to meet up with each other again. They continued with more calls and echo location to about 9pm.
There was to be no fourth close humpback encounter to finish off the day but the humpbacks did oblige a few sounds as the night closed in.
One BIG technical glitch happened and we lost the ability to monitor the hydrophones (and cameras) in Johnstone Strait. So for the night and part of the next day we were handicapped. A strange sense of incompleteness of not being able to hear all the hydrophones through the night. The issue would not be resolved until the next day.
