The 28th, like many days now, began with humpbacks in the early morning, including one whose calls were loud enough to be heard above water from the Lab deck! A few hours later, however, the orcas arrived to properly wake everyone up.
First reported milling near Little Hanson, the A34s (-62s) and A67s entered Blackney Pass – A34s leading – from the south shortly before 7:45am, travelling north together. They were in fine form with tail slapping, breaching, buzzing, echolocating and generally very vocal as they hurried through; excited about something! A80 threw a tail slap before leading the way out of the Pass at 7:53am, with the rest of the group clearing a few minutes later. Their calls continued on Flower Island as they carried on towards Bold Head, where the leaders headed west around 8:28am.
By 10am the A34s were north of the White Cliffs, with A55 travelling close alongside A80 and A34. Then, around 12:57pm, at least two orcas were reported heading back towards Little Hanson and into Blackney Pass. A34 calls reached Flower Island shortly afterwards, and by 1:16pm they were up again very close to the Donegal Head shore. They hugged the coastline around Doneg al before westing into Cormorant Channel, but reports soon had them between Donegal and Pearse and looking as though they might take Weynton Passage back towards Johnstone Strait.
Sure enough! By 2:22pm, calls had reached Strider Rubbing Beach. But another set of fins was about to enter the picture. At 2:47pm, Bigg’s were reported opposite the Lab in Blackney Pass. Before we could get an ID, the three whales had slipped through remarkably quietly, passed CP, and surfaced east of Kaikash Creek by 3:12pm and continued quickly east through Johnstone Strait towards Robson Bight. They were eventually ID’ed as the T123s, later reported travelling more slowly past the Sophias.
The A34s, meanwhile, were still around Blinkhorn. Pacific White-sided Dolphins (PWDs) were heading towards them as the family began coming together, although they soon spread out again. Their distant calls continued to reach Strider Rubbing Beach through the afternoon.
At 4:50pm, most of the OrcaLab crew swapped hydrophones for the annual Boat Bay party hosted by our friends at CETUS. Momoko kindly volunteered to hold down the fort at the Lab all by herself, what a star of a human! Tomoko in Japan also lent a helping hand by listening to the stream from afar.
At 5:47pm orcas were reported coming out of West Pass and crossing towards Swanson Island, and shortly afterwards echolocation was heard on Flower Island. Thick fog had reduced visibility in Blackney Pass to essentially zero, leaving the hydrophones to tell the story. Buzzes, whistles, and calls carried through the water until around 7:39pm.
By 7:50pm the A34s were trending north around Egeria, once again spread out, but for good reason. Schools of salmon were out in force in Blackfish Sound, with some 40-50 PWDs foraging and vocalising nearby. The A96s, also a part of the A34s (-62s), were not far away either. Eventually the A34s turned west and by 8:38pm disappeared into Queen Charlotte Strait.
The 29th moved at a gentler pace. In the early morning, Katie and Peyton headed over to Strider Rubbing Beach from Boat Bay to clean the algae-covered underwater camera. Seeing it so clean is refreshing! We waited until lunchtime for our first report of the orcas. At 12:52pm the A34s (-62s), and possibly others, were reported north of Numas. Confirmation came not long afterwards with some particularly welcome company: the A42s! By 1:27pm the A42s and A34s were together off the Janette Islands, travelling west.
As they reached the Millar Group Islands, the A42s continued west along the eastern side of the islands while the A34s slipped through Ripple Passage on the western side. By 2:30pm, both groups were still carrying on west.
A relatively peaceful couple of days around the lab, with just enough comings and goings. With August drawing to a close, we’ll see who decides to wander our way next.
