On the stroke of midnight the A24 group was close to Strider beach. Their calls were loud and clear – a clarion call to the A34 group who were following but still behind. As they made their way east their calls began to fade. By then the A34s were abeam Strider at 1:09am. They followed up with a short rub and when finished at 2;16am the A34s brushed past Main rubbing beach and continued to follow the A24 group to the east. Progress was not hurried and calls could be heard for another hour. It was now 3am – a long night for the Lab. Briefly at 4:36am there were a few more calls then a longer break with the whales well past the Ecological Reserve.
In the interval, the A24 group must have made a wide arc which brought them over closer to the Cracroft island shore while the A34s stayed closer to Vancouver Island. It was in this formation that both groups came back to the west just before 10am.
The A42s were still in the Salish Sea and in the same locale as the previous day near Sutil Channel.
We heard the distant A34 calls first at 9:58am but did not see them approach Strider beach until just before 12pm. A34, A55, A96 and A132 were identified at the beach as their rub began at 12:03pm. It was another short rub and they were soon carrying on west.
By 12:07pm we were hearing the A24s as well.
In short order we heard calls on the Critical Point system as the whales came abeam Robson Bight. The ever diligent Straitwatch, guarding on the water nearby, watched as the whales grouped together.
A humpback vocal from 12:53 to 1:08pm rather surprised the Lab as at this time of year vocal humpbacks are not common.
Straitwatch was able to report at 1:51pm that the A24s were off the Sophia Island and approaching Cracroft Point. This report was followed by us hearing echolocation and seeing whales on the “CP” remote camera. The outcamp was already in action with cameras and notepad ready. The highlight of their day would be the double spy hop they saw in front of them.
The A24s continued across the entrance to Blackney Pass and found themselves closer to the Hanson Island shore.
In the Salish Sea the A42s had turned back to the north around Sentry Shoals.
The A34s, meanwhile, were over on the Vancouver Island shore still and at 2:37pm they were off Blinkhorn. Really, these two groups were working in tandem and when opposite Telegraph Cove the A34s crossed over and moved into Weynton Pass after the A24s.
By the time they had gone through Weynton at 3:16pm the two groups moved even closer together and by the time Alex saw them off Donegal Head around 5pm they were all mixed together and Alex was able to offer the following description. “Three groups working so hard against the tide. Quite spectacular’
They really didn’t move very far as they were reported just west of Donegal Head at 6:23pm. By 7:35pm Ocean Magic II announced that they were now eastbound and sure enough we picked up a few calls at 8:12pm on the Flower Island system in Blackfish Sound.
Claire actually could see some distant fins using the Sea Lion remote camera trained and zoomed in to the west. But despite continued calls and even some echolocation the whales never materialised and by midnight had ceased as they retreated back toward Queen Charlotte Strait.
The Lab had an evening thrill as a humpback came close to our boat, the Sonic tethered at the mooring at 10:26pm.
This was the last day for Justus, Kelly and Hervé. We have so enjoyed having all three at the Lab and appreciated all that they have done. Justus and Kelly are on to new adventures and school in the Fall. For Hervé, it is back to France, family and work at the University of Toulon. Hervé made a presentation to the group about some of the incredible findings his research has produced. We will think of him each time we turn on “Stethorca” when we record whales in Blackney Pass. Bon Voyage!!
