With the Northern Residents still off to the west, the night of August 4 was mostly quiet save for distant Bigg’s calls heard at 2:57am and a Humpback Whale vocalising at 4:50am.
With daylight activity picked up. The T046B1s were already far into Blackfish Sound heading east at 9:27am. They came into sight close to Hanson Island and then angled more to mid channel until they cleared the Lab’s view at 10:12am. On entry to Johnstone Strait the T046B1s went west and were later seen that evening near Beaver Cove just before 6pm. But before their turn west, Cetus reported at 10:08 that T065 and T063 were near CP heading west. The two groups must have literally passed each other with T065 and T063 heading into Blackney Pass at 10:21am. In our previous report we mentioned T063s nickname, Chainsaw, so named because of the distinctive large notches on the trailing edge of his dorsal fin. He is easy to spot and follow even with a naked eye. The pair continued through Blackney Pass and cleared into Blackfish Sound at 11:11am. Barbara, who was with her kayak group, watched them pass Bold Head at 11:30am. They had made steady progress through Blackfish Sound. While they were doing so, another Bigg’s group, the T060s, approached the area from Queen Charlotte Strait. Olivia watched as they hugged the Malcolm Island shore and kelp bed before curling around Donegal Head and into Weynton Pass, taking typically long dives as they did so.
Scotty provided information about the A23s who had disappeared the previous evening into Queen Charlotte Strait. At 2:37pm they were seen in the rather unusual location of Pemphrase Channel which is further north and part of the inlet waterways..
The Bigg’s activity seemed to settle down. T063 and T065 continued away west, the T060s disappeared and the T046B1s, as mentioned, carried on their way west toward Beaver Cove.
The Lab’s focus shifted quickly around 3:30pm when a small boat with three young men in wet suits were persistently near the humpback Squiggle opposite the Lab, maneuvering their boat very close to the whale. At least one even got into the water. Squiggle breached and dodged but the guys spotted the whale again and motored over. At one point the guys on the boat looked to be goofing around, pushing each other into the water. Straitwatch was informed and responded by intercepting the boat, getting their names and filing a report with Fisheries and Oceans. OrcaLab filmed the incident and also reported it to DFO’s Hotline (1 800 465 4336). Charlotte did some excellent sleuthing and found out the boat was headed to a larger boat after eventually going through White Beach Pass. The name of the boat will be part of the report.
This incident was an unfortunate example of ignorance. There are regulations set in place to protect the whales from unwanted intrusions that can be harmful even deadly. The regulations are posted everywhere and so the “boys” claim not to know falls flat.
August 5th
The A23s on their journey found the A25s and the A34s (-A62s) and came back with them through Queen Charlotte Strait in the morning. The Lab heard the first calls at 7:15am. They were distant and Alex soon reported that orcas came from the north side of Malcolm Island and at first were pointed toward Weynton Pass, in line with the White Cliff Islands, and then finally parallel to Swanson Island. By 8am, they were clearly headed east in Blackfish Sound and within ten minutes were in the Lab’s view. While on deck and observing the A25s, then the A23s and finally the A34s pass, Bigg’s orcas opposite the Lab, on the very far side, were seen going north through the dark waters below Harbledown Island. Barbara soon saw and counted seven as they passed her camp on Habledown at 8:47am. The Bigg’s continued west unidentified.
The Lab’s attention was soon back on the Residents who were now visible on the Cracroft Point remote video camera at 8:46am headed east.
Over the next two hours these orcas drew closer to Critical Point and Robson Bight. By 10:33am, they were past the Critical Point headland and on their way to Strider Rubbing Beach for a rub at 11:21am. Many passes underwater, lots of strong chuffs, clear calls characterized the rub before the whales pushed off to the east by 11:52am. Calls soon came up on Main Rubbing Beach a few minutes later.
At some point, after the rub and the initial movement to the east, the orcas split into two groups with the A25s and A23s continuing east and the A34s(-A62s) heading west. Scotty reported the A34s were not far from the eastern boundary at 2:52pm and that indeed they were going west. They came back into Strider Rubbing Beach at 3:48pm. They passed Critical Point once again at 4:13pm. They were spread out in mid strait. Their ambition was to head to Blackney Pass and they passed Cracroft Point around 5:15pm. From there they moved to the entrance of Blackney Pass. Calls registered on the Parson and Cracroft Point hydrophones as they began their turn into Blackney. By 7:05pm they were properly into Blackney Pass and going north. A few additional A34 calls were unexpectedly heard in Blackfish Sound at 7:10pm, long before they could be assigned to these A34s just coming in. This led to the thought that maybe the A62s were at some distance but close enough to be heard. A80 who was always in the lead managed Blackfish Sound by 7:50pm. He was followed by the rest at 8pm.
After being east of Flower Island at 7:56pm Olivia watched as this A34 group eventually crossed over to the Hanson Island shore. From 9pm on, these A34s shifted west to Weynton Pass and turned south. The Lab picked up their calls once out of Weynton Pass and into Johnstone Strait at 10:03pm. The calls remained distant and then resumed on the Flower Island Blackfish Sound system by 11:54pm leading us to surmise that they must have only ventured partially into Johnstone Strait before circling back and eventually going out to Queen Charlotte Strait sometime after midnight.
