At 8:53am on the 22nd of July, Scotty mentioned that a group of A clan Northern Residents had been spotted heading east in Gordon Channel the day before. Then, Alex Morton shared, at 9:35am, that a small group of orcas was moving east past Bere Point, but they could not be identified in the morning’s dense fog. Another report from Scotty came in at 11:34am that the group had reached Lizard Point.
Then, at 12:11pm, Insomnia the Humpback appeared in Blackney Passage, lunging in front of Burnt Point. Insomnia bubble net fed three times just in front of the Lab before clearing from view back around Burnt Point at 12:28pm.
Just fourteen minutes later the distant calls of the A52s registered on the Flower Island hydrophone. Jared Towers reported at 12:52pm that the now identified A52s were off Donegal Head. By 1:28pm, there were no more calls in range, but Jared detailed that the four orcas had curled around Donegal Head to Mitchell Bay. He also shared that A105 is sprouting, which describes the time when a young male orca’s dorsal fin begins to grow taller and straighter. By 1:45pm, the A52s were pointing in the direction of Weynton Passage, and another report confirmed at 2:03pm that they were traveling through it towards Johnstone Strait. Calls were heard again at 2:25pm once the small group reached Johnstone Strait. As the orcas moved east their calls became clearer but still distant on the Strider Rubbing Beach hydrophone. The calls continued intermittently until about 4:00pm. Straitwatch followed their progression along Vancouver island to just east of Cracroft Point. At 4:23pm, they reported that the A52s had turned and were quickly moving back west along the Vancouver Island shoreline nearing Blinkhorn. The glare from the afternoon sun unfortunately prevented the Lab from being able to spot them on our remote camera.
At 6:16pm, some very faint calls reached the Flower Island hydrophone. Nicolette at Double Bay shared that their hydrophone also picked up a distant call. Then, at 8:21pm, Alex reported that the A52s were in Blackfish Sound, and relayed from Troy that the A50s were heading east from Bere Point! This was very exciting news, as members of the A1 pod have historically been the first ones to “settle in” for the summer in the area. At 8:34pm, Alex saw the A52s heading west in Queen Charlotte Strait in the direction of the A50s.
Insomnia the humpback reappeared at 8:59pm and started lunging to the left of the Lab again but did not stick around long to bubble net feed.
At 11:35pm, faint calls were heard once again some distance still from Blackfish Sound. Their next moves through the night will be revealed in tomorrow’s summary. Suffice to say, the Northern Residents may finally be back, hopefully for real this time.
Words by Mary Margaret
