There was no activity during the night but as a glorious sunrise unfolded Blackney Pass from night into day dolphins chatted in Blackfish Sound around 5am and humpbacks who made their quiet passes back and forth were revealed in the growing light.
The Lab got busy right away with preparations to go to Cracroft Point where the old deck was to undergo renovation. The humpbacks mirrored this busyness with their own increased activity. Their percussive blows punctuated the morning air.
Around 11am, Northern Residents were found west of Bold Head. It was not the A42 group of the past days as might be expected but the A24s who had been seen further west in Gordon Channel the previous day.
Had the A42s exchanged places so to speak? It seemed likely it was the A24s turn to take a tour of this area. They slipped into Blackfish Sound and at 12:22pm where we first heard their calls. Twenty minutes later they were in our view. This group comprises five individuals, six if it had included A94, who now has had the habit of traveling with the A42s for these past three years. A94, or Mystery, was not with his natal group on this occasion and we assumed he remained with his adopted A42 group somewhere off to the west even though the two groups must have passed by each other. He certainly comes by his nickname honestly – such a mystery! His brother, A78, Toba, however was with the A24 as they passed the Lab and cleared quickly into Johnstone Strait just before 1pm, passing the hard-at-work crew at Cracroft Point.
Toba’s group then headed east. By 2:13pm, it was the Cliff’s turn to view these new visitors as they crossed the western boundary of the Ecological Reserve. Once inside the Reserve area they went for a rub at 2:50pm. The Strider Beach has two parts or “rooms”. On this day the A24s favoured the eastern end which we have dubbed “the kitchen” as opposed to the western “livingroom” . This preference meant that although their loud “chuffs”, as they touched down on the ocean floor, were loud and clear they were only on the underwater camera briefly. The rub continued for a full ten minutes before they pushed on further east and out of range of our systems.
The day continued with watching the humpbacks in Blackney while work resumed at Cracroft Point in the hot sun. As late afternoon approached the humpbacks became active with Inukshuk in close proximity to Dalls Porpoise and a mother and baby on the far side breaching together. We lost count of the number of dual breaches, which began opposite the Lab off Red Point, and carried on until the pair were out of sight into Blackfish Sound.
Our day concluded with a return of the Cracroft crew, dinner and review of the day’s photos including those taken at Cracroft when the A24s had passed.
