With a few new nuances and minus two groups, this day was surprisingly similar to the previous day for the A62s and A54s who began the day already back in Johnstone Strait. There was little to report between midnight and 5am. The whales remained silent until a rub at Strider Rubbing Beach at 5:34am. No calls, just three small fins and a swag of dolphins, and just the sound of pebbles moving in response to orca rubbing their bodies. In time, they moved on to Critical Point and Robson Bight just after 6am. Two and a half hours later they made a rub at Kaizumi Rubbing Beach, obviously not in a hurry. Calls, at 8:40am, on the Parson Island system indicated progress towards the entrance of Blackney Pass. They negotiated their way into Blackney Pass in the foggy conditions but didn’t make it into view of the Lab until 10:26am. Passage of the A54s and A62s was now at a reasonable pace and they cleared our view as two groups at 11:04am.
From there they mosied toward Bold Head by 1pm. After another half hour some had cleared west into Queen Charlotte Strait. Others formed a resting line near the eastern end of Queen Charlotte Strait where they angled toward Hanson Island. Regrouped again by 2:12pm, all faced toward Flower Island from the western end of Blackfish Sound. Then it was back to Blackney Pass by 3:57pm with approximately the same 50 dolphins who came with them all the way from Johnstone Strait. The A54s were in the lead mid channel. The A62s much further behind and closer to the Hanson Island side. It was really as if two separate but continuous passings. Both groups went to Johnstone Strait where they went east once more. With the Strider Rubbing Beach remote camera and hydrophone temporarily out the first indication of just how far east they had managed by 7:05pm was when they went in for a rub at the Main Rubbing Beach. By now the A62s were indicating that their energy had picked up considerably: Loud, clear calls, lots of heavy echo location. They repeated at 8pm with another three minute rub. From the beaches both the A54s and A62s slipped out of range to the east. The final punctuation mark on the day was the three calls made by Bigg’s in the Blackfish Sound region at 10:09pm.
In the last while OrcaLab has welcomed Paul’s son Yasha and his family from California along with niece Keren from New Zealand.
