There are days like this, ones that start simply enough with faint calls in the distance, then the realisation that it is about to become complex, exciting and totally engrossing.
Soon after midnight distant echo location signaled the arrival of Northern Residents and calls hinted of a new group joining the whales who had already been around. The C10s had spent the previous day in Queen Charlotte Strait but kept shy of actually moving closer into range of the hydrophone network. By 1:27am it was clear that they and an I15 group were approaching Blackney Pass and sure enough thirteen minutes later the first blows were heard in the Pass. The A50s were included in the mix but seemed further back from the lead. After getting half way through their blows were not longer audible for some reason but because calls came up in short order in Johnstone Strait around 3:20am the logical conclusion was that they had completed the pass and entered Johnstone Strait. Once having arrived in Johnstone Strait the majority of the whales headed east, passing Robson Bight and on to the rubbing beaches through the Reserve.
As on most occasions the main destination was the rubbing beaches. The first rub began at 6:11am. It lasted a full forty minutes and on completion the whales headed east after an excited burst of calls just after 7am.
Just over an hour later the orcas returned with the C10s angling into Strider beach at 8:07am. This rub lasted ten minutes and the whales carried on to the west by first moving offshore into the fog.
Their next stop, at 8:43am, on the way was Critical Point, the eastern headland of Robson Bight. As before, dolphins were with them and were quite chatty as well.
By 9:45am, the whales had passed the Bight and landed near Kaizumi Beach. This western movement brought the A50s and the I16s back to Blackney Pass and around 10:15am they went north. We picked up just a few of their blows in the fog and afterwards their calls, whistles and echolocation in Blackfish Sound accompanied by dolphins. They would continue their journey into Queen Charlotte Strait.
Attention was then drawn back to Johnstone Strait where there was still an active scene happening. By 11:04 there was echo location registering on the Kaizumi system. This became more intense and the impression was that whales were headed back to the east. The Achiever Research vessel confirmed that the C10s crossed the Western Boundary into the Ecological Reserve by 12:20pm.
Calls and more echolocation followed at Critical Point by 12:58pm. These were the lead whales and there was still a line of whales extending west past Izumi Rock to Kaizumi. The remote camera at Critical Point captured both eastward movement and whales resting. It was now past 1pm.
As in the early morning the C10s and I4s eventually headed to the beaches east of Critical Point and Robson Bight where an inevitable rub started at Strider at 1:58pm. The underwater footage was very good. This is thanks to Diego who managed to clean the glass. Summer is always a bit of a challenge as the temperature of the water rises, producing algae that loves to stick to everything, including the glass protecting the underwater lens. The only way to fix this is to have someone go to the beach and wipe it off either by diving or waiting for a very low tide, and of course, no whales!
Just prior to the rub the I27s were seen on the opposite side of the Strait passing Swaine Point by 1:41pm.
By 2:05pm this rub was over and the whales lazily drifted offshore moving in no particular direction at first. Meanwhile, the I65s were back at Kaizumi.
After some rapid echolocation and hints of calls on the Main Rubbing beach system the C10s and I4s shifted somewhat easterly but did not leave the vicinity of Strider and Main beaches, making some very loud calls off Main which belied their sedentary postures. It was now about 2:30pm and the I65s left Kaizumi and also shifted eastward.
Dylan filled us in about the whereabouts of the A50s who were now off the Penfold Islands in Queen Charlotte Strait . Some westerly movement had begun in Johnstone Strait by this time with the C10s and I4s coming back in line with Strider Beach. They started their rub there at 2:41pm and continued until 2:48pm.
The westerly trend coincided with the I16s making their way back through Queen Charlotte Strait, past Alex, around 3:54pm. As a surprise, A34 calls were heard along with those of the I16s when both groups came into range of the Flower Island hydrophone in Blackfish Sound at 4:07pm.
The I16s came into view mid channel, already partially through, at 4:14pm and out of view by 4:27pm. They were followed by the A34s (including the A67s but not the A62s) from 4:47pm until 5:07pm.
During these passes a large group of dolphins charged into Blackney from the north, continued to the bays beyond the Lab, turned and charged back right close to the Lab. With one overcharged burst they all leapt together just before rounding Burnt Point and disappearing, leaving a lone sea lion in their wake. The energy of the 100+ dolphins was exhilarating.
Meanwhile, the I65s had found their way back to Kaizumi at 4:42pm where they would rub briefly from 5:07 to 5:08pm. The A34s, now in the Strait, milled & foraged off of Cracroft Point, seemingly biding time while the other groups sorted themselves.
Yet another six minute rub at Kaizumi occurred at 5:44pm. Most likely it was the I65s, if not the I16s, as the C10s and I4s were still further east near Strider.
The next hour was somewhat confusing to track. The A34s had become distant on the Kaizumi system. Did they move east? Korry at Discovery’s camp at the Sophias noticed a group heading west mid strait at 6:13pm. The A34 calls eventually echoed to the Cracroft Point system at 7:14pm.
The westing C10s and I4s had finally come abreast of Critical Point at 7:19pm but only briefly perhaps because there was once again whales seen heading east past Critical Point at 7:30pm and had another rub at 7:54pm.
From the confusion of whales we were left with a few puzzling questions:
Momoko noticed a series of calls not readily associated with the I15s. Although they can make this call, as it is part of their repertoire, they do so less than some of the other G clan matrilines.
At 7:46pm, Barbara at another camp near Big Bay on Hanson Island saw a group head east toward Cracroft Point. Barbara speculated that this may have been the I65s as there was a baby amongst the group of five. The I65s were last known to have been off Kaizumi so perhaps they headed west from there ,swung over to Hanson and gone east.
At 7:53pm, Korry commented further about the group he saw earlier heading west relaying that they were now almost up to CP. We had no acoustic clues to help peg who this was though we did wonder about the A34s who had been split into two groups.
The easiest explanation was that the I16s crossed over to Kaizumi and had a rub. That some of the A34s went east on entry, some stayed closer to CP and that the A34s later regrouped somewhere between Kaizumi and CP. At 7:58pm, there were loud A34 calls on the CP system and the A34s followed this with a northerly passage through Blackney Pass. They were gone by 8:36pm having achieved delivery of the I16s back to Johnstone Strait. They would return for the early hours of August 26 when an incredible night of wonderful calls unfolded. But that is tomorrow’s story.
The prep for those later hours began as the groups left in the Strait gathered off the eastern end of the Reserve from 9pm on.
So that left just one untidy bit. What of the calls Momoko heard? These may remain a mystery.
