Just after midnight the calls of the retreating A24s (A64s and A78) ended as they slipped out of range after travelling through Blackfish Sound. The night and morning were then uneventful. Scotty brought word of the same A24 group travelling east, tight together and close to the Swanson Island shore, just before 1pm. Shortly afterward they turned and moved back to the west, never having come as far as Blackney Pass.
There were no further reports for the rest of the day but at 6:55pm very, very distant calls were heard in Johnstone Strait. The calls were sourced to the Main Rubbing beach system and continued through the rest of the evening. One possible explanation was that the A24 group had moved into the far western area of the Strait. Possible but confusing because the Main Beach system is so far away ‘down’ the Strait from where they might have entered.
We imagine that, if this was the case, these lingering whales had entered through Weynton Pass but never ventured far into the Strait. Then a good while later they may have finally backtracked through Weynton Pass to Blackfish Sound where calls were heard at 11:17pm.
To finally hear those clearer calls, whatever the story, was a relief. If the whales were lingering for so long somewhere on the Johnstone Strait side of Weynton, who or what were they waiting for?
During the day the Lab got to enjoy the humpbacks especially “Insomnia” who lunge fed 25 metres from the Lab shore at 7:17pm.
All in all, not a bad if somewhat confusing Canada Day!
Having the A24s here early is a treat but not that unusual. In 40 years of accumulating incidence data, matrilines from the A4 pod, of which the A24s are one, have been amongst the first arrivals nine times (22.5%) and all but 2 of these events were in June. Most often they accompanied other Northern Resident groups but in 2009, the A24s came in by themselves. Their choice to turn up late June or early to mid July contributed to the decision to return the orphaned Springer (A73) on July 13.
The orcas really never fail to fascinate.
