The A34s remained in the Strait overnight, first audible faintly at 1:30am after a pause in their calls. The tracked slowly east, reaching the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve by 3am, and at Strider Rubbing Beach by 3:25am. They had a brief rub, before dipping out of our range to the east again for a few hours. By dawn, they had turned and were headed back to Strider by 6:30am. A brief pass-by of the foggy beach at 6:54am was on the cards before they continued their way west. The A67s were in the lead, visible on Robson Bight camera at 7:08am, while the rest of the A34s (-62s) followed suit at Strider at 7:30am. All moved generally offshore and into the fog, and with few calls, they headed slowly to the west.
By 9am they had reached Cracroft Point, still in two separate groups, blows audible from the platform by Momoko and Emily, but still shrouded in fog. They milled off CP for a while, foraging, and A55 and A80 were finally recognizable at 9:30am. A few times they looked like they were headed into Blackney Pass, but dipped back into view of CP again and continued foraging. By 10am, the A67s were reported heading west nearer to the Vancouver Island shore around Kaikash Creek, and we surmised the rest of the A34s were slowly following, closer to Hanson. As the fog lifted, Momoko at CP could eventually see all of the A34s (-62s) together, easting now by 1pm, around Izumi Rock. They continued back east, approaching Robson Bight camera at 2:35pm where we caught some beautiful footage of them in a resting line. True to form, they continued east close to shore and were back at Strider Rubbing Beach again by 3:30pm for a brief 15-minute rub. Then it was time for — yep — back to the west! Lots of back-and-forth in Johnstone Strait today.
A34 and A55 crossed the Strait to the Cracroft Island side and by 5:30pm, those at CP could see them approaching somewhat close to shore. The rest were closer to the Vancouver Island shore, mirroring the movement west. At one point, A34 surfed in the huge wake left behind by a cruise ship, close to shore, it was quite the moment!
By 7:13pm we received word that most of the A34s were traveling slowly off Bauza Cove, with A34 and A55 just off Weynton Island.
They eventually took Weynton Passage north and into Blackfish Sound, where we began hearing their calls on Flower Island shortly after 9pm. After very few calls all day, it was nice to hear their vibrant tones! As the darkness settled, the A34s committed to Blackney Pass and, under a blanket of stars, we began hearing their blows pass the lab shortly before 11pm. They passed in 2 groups, and the first reached CP by 11:30pm, audible again by those on the platform, and crossed over the Strait angling east, where this day ends. Quite remarkable how much we can discern just by listening!
To round off the day, we received a few reports of the A23s and A25s still down in the Desolation Sound area and, remarkably, a report of the A42s from August 13th in Zeballos Inlet!
