It felt as if the day before was like a set-up for this day’s events. The day began with the Resident orcas retreating back to Queen Charlotte Strait after midnight. The surprise addition of A4 calls led to the suggestion that the A52s, who had been seen in Knight Inlet earlier, had made it to the immediate area. With their arrival it seemed that the whales were restless and perhaps reorganising for more to unfold.
A couple of hours passed by before any more calls were heard again in Johnstone Strait. It wasn’t, however, the Residents, but Bigg’s orcas this time. The calls were very faint and continued sporadically so right up to just before 8am.
Just 10 minutes later in Blackfish Sound, echolocation and occasional faint Resident calls began as they approached from the west.
A radio report around 8:30 am suggested that a large group of Bigg’s orcas had gathered and were off the western end of Johnstone Strait near the Blinkhorn Peninsula east of Telegraph Cove. Their numbers were in the twenties! Large gatherings of Bigg’s orcas, though not unheard of, run counter to their profile of silent, stealth hunters operating in small groups. This gathering was by all accounts as gregarious and social as that of their Resident opposites. Naturally, they got the attention of everyone. This allowed the Residents to return uninterrupted for a while and slip into Blackney Pass where they continued south to Johnstone Strait.
Quin, still busy at “CP” (Cracroft Point shelter), watched as three groups, 12-13 orcas in total, slowly angled to the east then paused to forage. By now Katie and the Lab had had time to review the photos of the whales which had passed OrcaLab and had entered the Strait in front of Quin, the A50 and the A34s (- the A62s).
As the Bigg’s orcas continued west past Alert Bay (“Home of the Killer Whale”, breaching and putting on an exuberantly energetic show, the A50s and A34 group continued on their journey toward Robson Bight. Eagle Eye (Cliff site) began observing as the whales drew closer. By 12:15pm, the orcas were almost to Eagle Eye who then reported at 12:40pm the A34s were now closer to the Bight and the A50s mid strait. Another two hours passed before Eagle Eye was able to report that the whales had all turned and were following the kelp line on the Vancouver Island side west of the Ecological Reserve. It was now just past 3:30pm.
Sure enough the turn coincided with more incoming whales to Blackfish Sound. Just before 5pm (4:54pm) faint calls were heard from the Flower Island hydrophone. Troy, further west in Queen Charlotte Strait, had seen the A62s among others on their way east by 2:18pm after their having visited the beach for a rub.
It was Momoko, listening from Japan, who recognised the A5 calls, then more A30 calls. Katie identified A4 calls. Definitely some new groups! The Lab braced itself for their arrival which began by 6pm. The A52s were first identified. They would account for the A4 calls. The A25s present accounted for the A5 calls and the A54s, the additional A30 calls (A50 and A54 are sisters who inherited their mother, A30 calls). The A62s who passed close to the lab, and were tight together, were there too.
All were in Johnstone Strait by 7pm. By 8:29pm the A52s had made it to Strider Beach for a rub before moving to Main Beach for another quick (1 minute) rub at 8:35. The A34 (-A62s) were seen on the Critical Point video camera going west past Robson Bight mid-Strait while others foraged in the closer to shore slowly moving east at 10pm. At the same time the A5 calls were getting closer to Strider Beach and the A25s went for a rub just as our remote cameras turned to night mode at 10:11pm. They rubbed for a couple of minutes before moving on.
The Humpback, Insomnia, was back bubblenet feeding off the Lab at 9:18pm which temporarily distracted everyone from the orcas for a short while.
After 10pm the Residents were managing their get together well as the various groups embraced their coming together in their shared Johnstone Strait space. Beautiful and exciting calls ensued at 10:30pm, and all of it happened somewhere off of Main Rubbing Beach. A34 took A55 and the rest of her family off the west. Katie saw them when off Critical Point. They would continue on their own to Queen Charlotte Strait leaving behind the others to the night.
Really a full and wonderful day, one for the books!
