August 18th began with the faint calls and echolocation from the A34s as they approached Blackfish Sound from the west at 5:21am. Shortly after, around 6:00am, their calls were joined by the calls from the A25s following not far behind. At 6:10am, humpback whale social calls joined the calls of the Northern Residents, but stopped just 5min later. Resident calls continued until about 7:00am, when the whales made their way back to the west through the fog in Queen Charlotte Strait.
At approximately 9:24am, we received a report that whale watching vessels were hearing Resident calls around Lizard Point on Malcolm Island, likely from the A34s and A25s. There was no news of where the A34s and A25s went until 3:26pm when 9 orcas were reported off Bere Point; these whales were later ID’d as the A34s (-A62s) by Scotty.
By 5:30pm both families had again made their way towards Blackfish Sound; this time the A25s were in the lead. By 6:15pm the A34s were also approaching Blackfish Sound from Queen Charlotte Strait. Both groups went east in Blackfish Sound, and the A25s entered Blackney Pass and the Labs view at 7:04pm. They quickly continued south into Johnstone Strait. A61 Surge headed east mid-strait almost immediately, while Pacific white-sided dolphins surrounded A85 Cordero and A121 Twilight as they milled off the CP outpost, then also headed east.
Just after 8:00pm the A25s became visible on the Robson Bight remote camera. They continued east, moving closer to the Vancouver Island shore before clearing the camera’s view around 8:45pm. 15 minutes later, they appeared on the Strider Rubbing Beach camera, hugging the shoreline as they traveled, but they did not stop to rub. We last heard from them on the Main Rubbing Beach hydrophone, the furthest east, at 9:17pm.
At 7:27pm we received a report that the A34s were still traveling east in Blackfish Sound, nearly to Flower Island. They never made it into Blackney Pass, instead opting to turn around and go back west. Our final report of the A34s for the day was from Olivia on Donegal Head at 9:05 pm, when she reported them westing in Queen Charlotte Strait.
Finally, late in the evening, we received a report from Troy at Bere Point that the A23s and another unidentified group of Northern Residents had passed by traveling east, but we will have to leave their arrival for tomorrow.
