The 18th of July was relatively quiet at the lab. The day began at 9:50 AM with a report from the Robson Bight wardens viewing platform, Eagle Eye, reporting that Wild Coast Adventures at Orca Camp had spotted five orcas heading west near the eastern boundary of the Robson Bight (Michael Bigg) Ecological Reserve. Shortly afterward, Eagle Eye reported the Bigg’s orcas were spread out offshore, passing Strider Rubbing Beach at 9:57 AM. At 11:18 AM, we received a report from Jared Towers that the T099s and T036s were in Cormorant Channel near Alert Bay. Likely the same Bigg’s reported earlier in the day.
Around 3:30 PM, Megan Hockin-Bennett reported that Northern Residents had been sighted near Courtenay, BC, heading north. Likely the A42s plus A94.
The day ended at 8:45 PM with some beautiful footage from the Strider Rubbing Beach camera, showing a Bald eagle bathing in a tide pool.
Overall, July 19th was a quiet day, with no reports of orcas in the area or elsewhere, leaving us to speculate where many of the Northern Resident families might be. It was also a quiet day for humpback whales, with only two sticking around long enough to photograph and identify.
Just after 11:30 AM on July 20th, we received a report that Eagle Eye had spotted five Bigg’s traveling west through Johnstone Strait. Not long after, the Biggs appeared on our Cracroft Point remote camera porpoising and breaching near a group of Dall’s porpoises. Their energetic movements suggested they were likely hunting. Just before 12:30 PM, the group of Bigg’s entered Blackney Passage from the south, still breaching and active. For the next 25 minutes, they raced back and forth through the southern end of the Pass hunting. Eventually, they exited our view to the south and re-entered Johnstone Strait.
For the remainder of the afternoon, the humpbacks Argonaut and Stitch kept us busy coming in and out of Blackney Pass. In the evening, Paul and Helena returned to the island after having been away for a few weeks – a moment of excitement, especially for some of our new assistants who had never met them before.
The morning of July 21st began at 12:57 AM with a report from Double Bay, informing us that they were hearing Bigg’s orca calls on their hydrophone. Unfortunately, the Bigg’s did not enter our hydrophone network’s range.
The morning continued with a group of Dall’s porpoises passing close to the lab around 8:45 AM. The rest of the day remained quiet with no reports of Orcas nearby. Besides two of our most frequent humpbacks, Argonaut and Stitch, we also spotted the humpbacks, Guardian and Corporal, in the afternoon. Around 4:40 PM, one of the humpbacks was seen repeatedly tail-slapping although we were unable to get a clear ID.
Words by Freddy
