The big tides of recent days have come with a lot of current and high volumes of water being exchanged. It is no wonder then that the orcas often choose to go with the current and not fight it. So it was in the early morning. The tide had turned at midnight and the max flood was at 2:55am. The orcas, an A30 group, suddenly turned up on the Parson Island hydrophone at 2:01am. Being already so far “in” they may have taken Blackney or Weynton Pass. But in short order, just seven minutes later, both A5 and A30 calls were coming from somewhere between Kaizumi, Strider and Critical Point. The whales were really moving! They allowed the fast flowing waters to carry them to and past the Strider Beach area from 3:31am till 5:07am. They took the last of the flood past the Ecological Reserve and soon as their calls faded by 6:07am they went out of range, now pushing against an ebbing tide.
Before the next change to another flood, at 11:51am, almost 12 hours after they entered, they were passing Naka Creek heading west. Progress was steady but not fast.
Not forgetting the A42s, Megan reported that they were off Forbes Bay at 12:45pm so still in the Salish Sea.
The whales did not come into range of our hydrophones until past 1pm. The large males, A99 and A84 of the A50s and the younger A126, were identified during a rub at Strider from 1:28pm and 1:37pm. Like the others they continued on their western journey seemingly not bothered by the opposing tide which was equally as strong as the one during the night. Their strength and endurance are remarkable.
Before their calls were heard on the Critical Point system in Robson Bight at 1:52pm CP was experiencing the humpback Harlequin engaged in bubble net feeding close by at 1:40pm. Claire, a few years ago, had also encountered Harlequin close to the Lab and captured a beautiful image of her eye and head as she surfaced.
The A5s and A30s were off Critical Point by 1:53pm calling and echolocating. On the other side of the Strait, the Cliff saw two individuals, at 11:05am, who looked as if they might be Bigg’s orcas. Jared later suggested they were T030A and T030C as they turned up later off Beaver Cove around 4:16pm and then again at 6pm when Jared was with them off Haddington Island.
Calls on the Cracroft and Kaizumi systems were followed by the sight of A60 along with others at 3pm. Half an hour later, blows could be seen and A72 was suggested to be over on the Vancouver island shore. But a succession of groups, starting at 3:31pm were approaching CP demanding Claire and Jérémie’s immediate attention. Three, then three more, four and three more. Eliot or A109 of the A23s, the A25s and A86 (of the A54s) were there. A mixed group which spoke to the fact that, after all the previous shuffling around, these whales were now settling in with each other.
To 4pm, the orcas crossed the rip and went west along the Hanson shore. Lucy’s parents, camping at Big Bay, identified Bend (A72) and Alder (A99) going past close to shore.
But calls soon grew fainter and then disappeared as the whales turned into Weynton Pass sometime after 5:28pm.
It was 6:09pm when we first heard calls in Blackfish Sound. They had circled around Hanson Island. The tide was soon to change yet again to an ebb at 6:27pm. Again the orcas continued to work against the current in order to come close to Blackney Pass. But perhaps after the day’s exertions they might have been finding it harder. They only closed in on Blackney by 7:48pm. And it was only a small group of four, Minstrel and her three youngest, who tried for the Pass. They only made it as far as Compton Island and after a long dive they rose in the opposite direction and took the easy path back to the others by 8:12pm.
All the activity was then in Blackfish Sound, out of sight but within hearing.
A humpback made the sounds associated with bubble net feeding at 8:35pm. At various times, dolphins, humpbacks and orcas were vocal from 8:46 to midnight. We identified the A5s and A30s amongst the orcas and supposed that the groups were still mingling. A breakaway group of dolphins were vocal on Parson Island just past 11pm and a humpback in Blackfish made another bubble net feeding call. It was not quiet.
The tide would not be helpful for bringing the whales back until past midnight. Even then they didn’t take advantage except for slipping in and out of Johnstone Strait briefly. The whales would wait until the next day as would we.
