The restless A54s, A23s, and A25s may not have gone far into Johnstone Strait after coming through Blackney late the previous evening. They may have shifted west and then reversed direction. By 1:21am they were hustling north through Blackney. When they got to Blackfish Sound they had enough determination to carry on to the west. Close and clear calls at 1:30am became distant ones by 1:50am. By 2:20am we could no longer hear them.
You may have noticed that we did not mention the I15s in this early morning back and forth. I15s (an unidentified group) had abandoned the others in Blackfish Sound and did not follow the A54s, A23s and A25s back to Johnstone Strait.
It has been hard to keep track of the various I15 groups because they are not always together but have, at times, become independent. Acoustically they are too similar for us to discriminate.
So it came as no surprise that in the day’s next chapter, at 5:25am, a single I15 call was heard. Impossible to source the origin. It was repeated at 6:32am but by 7:25am the I15 calls were definitely on the Parson Island station. Jianna had done a good job in identifying the calls and location. These whales were near the entrance to Blackney Pass. The calls were only moderately loud so more likely than not this group was nearer the Vancouver Island side as they headed east
The A54s called out from Blackfish Sound at 7:56am.
It really didn’t take the I15 group long to get to Strider. They were there by 8:24am. In their hurry they merely brushed the beach. The three small dorsal fins were surrounded by dolphins. Nineteen minutes later the same three returned and began a longer rub. They ended their rub at 8:49am by going west.
We knew, not just by the size and character of the I15 group at Strider but also by the fact that the A54s were now joined by the A5s and another I15 group (or groups) by 9:09am. Their calls would continue until 12:50pm.
Already the Johnstone Strait I15 group had passed Robson Bight and had taken a quick one minute rub at Kaizumi at 11:36am.
The Blackfish Sound whales, the A54s, A23s, A25s and the I15 group(s) decided they were ready to go through Blackney Pass by 12:52pm. This passing helped a lot. We learned that it was the I27s who were helping contribute to those I15 calls! We had not seen the I27s for several days after they disappeared out to the west. It appeared as if they had been fetched by the A62s who were also back after a brief absence. Additionally, the I04s (also of the I15s), the A23s and A25s and A54s were identified before they cleared our view by 1:31pm. By elimination the original Johnstone Strait I15 group must have been the I65s.
Getting into the Strait the groups spread out in the middle east of Cracroft Point as they moved east. Nearing Kaizumi, the A25s, among the others, called and echolocated regularly from 2pm until 2:23pm. From there the families moved toward Robson Bight. There were the noted close calls, more echolocation and whistles. By 3:11pm they were moving on. The whistles may have been a hint that these whales were ready and primed for a long rub at Strider. It started at 3:19pm with close calls, whistles and echolocation. By 3:28pm they were all in. Individuals from the different families were identified in sequence; A60 (from the A23s), I76 (from the I4s), A109 (from the A23s), and A69 (also from the A23s).
A34 (read A62) calls were heard at 3:45pm but there was no evidence visually that they were near the beach. Instead, they would be the first back at Critical Point and Robson Bight by 4:21pm. The 51 minute rub had ended eleven minutes prior. Calls suddenly ceased and the whales porpoised away to the west. Then their combined calls on the Critical Point station lasted until 4:38pm. Of course, as they moved away the calls began to fade. For a while only distant faint calls were heard. In the mix the A62s were heard again. This time faintly on the Kaizumi system along with an I15 group. It was not yet 6pm but the scene was developing with whales closing in on the entrance to Blackney Pass.
In relatively short order at 6:18pm the A54, A23, A25, and I4 families filed into Blackney Pass. Only the I4s were clearly identified from the I15s. The A62s were not obviously there causing us to speculate that perhaps they kept going west in the Strait with some of the other I15s as company. The A25s were last to go into Blackfish at 6:52. The orcas carried on calling in Blackfish then suddenly stopped at 7:47pm for just under an hour then continued. Had they come across the A62s and rest of the I15s in Weynton and Blackfish. Was this where they said their good-byes to the A62s? The A62s would be heard in Queen Charlotte Strait around 10am the next morning.
Soon after, echolocation indicated that some of the orcas had turned. They were in Blackney Pass by 9:32pm travelling this time in three groups. Loud call at 9:55pm declared their approach to Johnstone Strait. At 10pm the loud calls on the Cracroft Point system announced their arrival. From there the A30 (A54s), A5s (A23s, A25s) and I15s fanned out. Their calls were everywhere. In the hour before midnight there was evidence of their progress east, nearing Robson Bight together around 11:19pm. An I15 group was close to Strider just before this day and month ended.
The glorious orca filled August, the foggy August, the rainy August, the family and friend filled August had finished. It was time to turn a new page in the calendar and wonder what stories in September will be told?
