The A24s along with their I15 companions had left for Queen Charlotte Strait the previous evening but they did not stay away too long and we suspect they had not gone that far as just after midnight they began a return to Blackfish Sound. We heard them approach at 12:13am. The calls, mainly the A24s, resumed at 2:20am. The echo location, heard soon after, indicated that they were definitely on their way in. The following I15s were now also heard just after 3am. By 3:16am, three groups entered Blackney Pass and passed the Lab on the far side. This was not a speedy pass-by. The whales took their time especially as they neared the entrance to Blackney Pass.
Briefly heard in Johnstone Strait, the whales regrouped and turned back into Blackney Pass by 5:10pm. This time there was no hesitation and after travelling quickly they cleared into Blackfish Sound by 5:23am. They stopped calling by 6:10am.
A group of 7-8 unidentified orcas was seen east of the Reserve about 6:30am and by 8:18am possibly this same group was in Blackney Pass heading north. There were no visual IDs and no calls.
The Resident whales had made it back to Queen Charlotte Strait but their restlessness brought the A24s all the way back to Blackney Pass by 11am. This time, when making it to Johnstone Strait, they headed east.
Alex saw a group floating while passing toward Weynton Pass at 12:16pm. It was not determined if this was the I04s and I65s but Alex thought they looked like residents. If it was the I15s they probably came back to Johnstone Strait via Weynton Pass and headed east.
By then the A24s, also resting, passed the Reserve’s western boundary as they continued east. The I15s, now also in Johnstone Strait, must have drawn the A24s back toward them because at 2:14pm their collective calls were heard on both the Kaizumi and Cracroft Point systems. This brought on a I15 rub at Kaizumi at 3:09pm and a change of direction to the west.
Favouring the Hanson Island shore the groups continued west between 4:47pm and 5:25pm, where by then, the whales were at the “top” western end of Hanson. From there possibly the I15s passed toward the Plumper Islands. The day’s vacillation continued. Not really leaving Johnstone Strait the A24s continued to be heard until 11:30pm. The I15s were heard in Blackfish Sound at 11:44pm. The groups would not reconverge until after 1 am the next day.
One postscript: the A42s with A94 were seen off Lund earlier in the day, answering the question from a couple of days of which way had they gone when they left the area.
