It was perhaps the I4s (of the I15s) who first returned to Johnstone Strait via Blackney Pass after midnight leaving the A54s and A23s and A25s still in Blackfish Sound and whose calls stopped at 12:16am and would not resume until briefly at 5:03am. Where had they gone in the intervening five hours? Almost another five hours would again pass before we heard them once again in Blackfish Sound.
This time their calls lasted until just 10:03am and we understood that they had come back to the western end of Blackfish Sound in order to go through Weynton Pass. This action resulted in a short gap as our hydrophones don’t cover activity in Weynton Pass.
The Strait had been quiet of orcas all night until the groups emerged out of Weynton Pass and began to go east at 10:47am. The A54 and A5 calls were joined by those of the I15s and A62s. A lingering question was where did the A54s and A5s reconnect with the I15s and A62s? Moderate progress was along the Hanson Island side.
By 11:33am the orcas were off Big Bay and the southeastern end of Hanson Island. By noon they had spread out off the entrance to Blackney Pass. They took advantage of the confluence of the waters of Blackney and Johnstone Strait to forage as they milled and staged their entry north into Blackney Pass at 12:41pm.
Eleven minutes later these orcas were in sight of the Lab. They were arranged in four groups, the A23s, the A25s, the I4s and finally the A62s. They all reached Blackfish 1:34pm. Strong clear calls accompanied their exit to Blackfish Sound. After 2pm these became gradually less frequent as the whales moved to the west.
The Bigg’s orcas, the T46s, were seen eastbound close to Vancouver Island west of Naka Creek around 2pm.
So far only the I4s had been identified from the I15s. A day ago we lost track of the I27s and I65s and had listed them only as possibles in the last summary. But at 2:49pm, the I65s came back via Queen Charlotte Strait and proceeded towards the Johnstone Strait.
By now the A5s, the A54s and I4s decided to go back to Johnstone Strait. While in Blackfish they separated ways with the A62s. It would take them four hours to exit Blackfish in favour of Blackney Pass. Their movements were without urgency.
The I65s were already closing in on the Ecological Reserve by 4:30pm. It took the others almost an hour to transit Blackney Pass which they finally accomplished by 5:59pm.
The A62s continued to be heard faintly in Blackfish Sound until 6:50pm. Afterwhich, they journeyed into Queen Charlotte Strait.
From 6pm onwards the A23s, A25s and A54s made progress towards the Ecological Reserve. They found Strider beach at 9:42pm and went for a short, six minute rub which now involved both I15s and the A54s. The rub was repeated, with lots of close I15 calls and the “As” in the background, at 9:50am. This one was seven minutes long.
From the beaches (there were calls on Main beach at 10:05pm as well) the groups went eastbound together past the Reserve’s eastern boundary. The last calls for 29 August were at 10:14pm.
Filmmaker Jacques Naude enjoyed the second day of his very brief visit to Hanson Island, soaking in the passage of orcas, the occasional humpback, the ocean and the people.
