This night was really a completion of the day before, if that makes any sense. The A23s and A25s went quite a bit further east of the other Resident groups in the Strait on the 25th. We had only a hint of their whereabouts around noon when orcas were seen off the Eve River. There was so much activity on the 25th that this piece of information was nearly forgotten. Then before midnight Serah heard their very faint calls, probably still east of the Ecological Reserve. An I15 group had come through Blackney Pass and was in the Strait by then. They lingered west of the Kaikash area. Kate, at Bere Point, heard both A1 (not specified) and I15 calls from 2:26am on, leading us to the conclusion that only part of the I15s had returned to the Strait.
Just before 1am the A5s advanced west of Robson Bight. Shortly afterwards they went north through Blackney Pass into Blackfish Sound where their calls were heard to 1:48am. Vocal Pacific White-sided dolphins in the Strait added a postscript to this part of the night’s activity.
Morning rolled in with a report from CP that the mother and son, T117 and T120 had shown up in front at 6:54am going east. They returned at 7:26am with two others, a mum and baby. All went into Blackney Pass after milling in the wake of a cruise ship at 7:30am. The Achiever saw them go along the Parson Island shore. Dodging, the Bigg’s were next seen by “Little Hanson” in the entrance to Blackney Pass at 8:14am. From there they went west tight to the Hanson Island shoreline.
Time passed.
At 10:50am a large group of Residents were reported off Port McNeill. By the time they were passing Alert Bay at 11:52am Jared tyidentified the orcas as the I27s, I4s, I65s ( the I15 groups); the A50s, A54s (the A30 groups);the A23s, A25s (the A5 groups). Had these groups gone all the way around Malcolm Island?
It was quite the procession and travelling a seldomly used route.
Interesting to us was that when we first heard calls we got a better sense of the range of the Strider hydrophone. At 1:07pm, when the whales were off the Stephensen Islets off the entrance to Weynton Pass, we heard faint “As”. We had not totally realised the range of this hydrophone. On this occasion It may have been because the ocean conditions and levels of boat noise were more favourable..
Considering the possibility that the entrance to Weynton afforded, particular groups, the A30s and I15s, decided to go north through Weynton. The A23s and A34s continued on going east in the Strait and then north through Blackney Pass at 3:25pm with the A25s following them north at 4:17pm. Twenty minutes later the A23s returned to Blackney Pass with the A25s. The A34s stayed in Blackfish resisting the immediate urge to go south with the A5s waiting on the A30s and I15s in Blackfish Sound.
It was, however, an A30 group (not clear if both A30 groups, perhaps just the A54s) and the I15s who came through at 6:45pm after much calling. They cleared our view by 7:06pm. The A34s seemed to fade to the west.
Around 8pm, only A30 and I15 calls were heard even though the A5s were last seen going east. The A30 group and the I15s must have headed pretty quickly over to Vancouver Island because at 7:59pm they had a quick rub. The A30 and I15 continued to Robson Bight. By 9pm the A30 group was very near Strider where they stayed until 9:43pm. After this the calls began to fade from Strider perhaps as the whales made a wide turn to the west. Echolocation, at 11:11pm, back at Kaizumi, suggested that they were not immediately committed to really going far east. Their calls on this system lasted through the next half hour.
Compared to the day before this was a much simpler day. The surprise of the day was the groups being all together using Broughton Strait for their entry to the Strait. Each day is so different from the one before!
