A couple of days have passed since the last summary. Calls from the A24s (A64s plus A78) had ended as they were heading into Queen Charlotte Strait just before July 2 began. They did not return even though it had seemed like they had been reluctant to leave,
Daylight brought no reports of orcas from the whale watch boats but there had been posts Killer Whales of BC going back as far as June 30th when the I33 matriline with the A54s and A25s were seen by Delanely Murphy near Metlakatla, Ketchikan Alaska. The B7s have been in this area as well. On June 20th the A50s were seen near Prince Rupert. Early days yet for these Northern Residents to shift south. Remarkable then that the A24s had decided to accompany the A42s to the edge of their preferred haunts in the Salish Sea.
There was discussion about the healed scars on the humpback Cygnus’ back, Humpbacks are very vulnerable to ship strikes and entanglements. MERS (Marine Education and Research Society have kept detailed records on the individual humpbacks who visit this area and they put a lot of effort into encouraging boaters about safe practices around the whales. Unfortunately, accidents happen with sometimes fatal consequences. Habits like stationary resting, slow travel, some feeding behaviours like bubblenet practices can make humpbacks vulnerable. It had been disappointing to see, a couple of days before, a local boat with cheering passengers on board stay close to Quartz for over 30 minutes. Not acceptable given all the information available on what to do correctly.
On other fronts, the Lab took advantage of the quieter day to do a proper fire drill. Living on a remote island makes this essential especially during these hot, dry days. Emma, Olivia and Mary Margaret did some necessary kelp clearing on the mooring. Both the fire drill and mooring improvements were very welcomed efforts.
July 3: All quiet until 12:15pm when a lone humpback engaged in some lunge feeding close to the Lab. The humpback’s flukes looked to be gray, a telltale sign that this individual was young and perhaps a 2024 baby. One guess was that this was Dimple, Ripple’s 2024 baby, the jury is still out. The adult male humpback, Argonaut, became very active in the afternoon, breaching and slapping the water. Even on the “quieter” days there is always something to draw attention.
One last note, Scotty passed on that a friend had seen orcas near Bere Point in the morning. No identification.
