The magic of the summer solstice is upon us! In the past it was not unknown for Northern Residents to begin to arrive soon after this turn of season.Tuned as they are to Nature’s rhythms they know when it is time to move. In recent years this has been delayed to mid to late July. Our first inklings as to their whereabouts usually comes from further north, first in southeast Alaska, then the north coast and perhaps even the central coast. But not this time.
Today it was the A23s, A50s who arrived together in the morning in Queen Charlotte Strait. Jim Borrowman, in Telegraph Cove, heard the calls on the Double Bay hydrophone (which can hear into Queen Charlotte Strait) just after 7am. Alex Morton provided the first sighting at 7:12am and this was followed by Elizabeth Zwamborn’s a few minutes later confirming the A23s moving toward Blackfish Sound. Dave Towers, out for an early fishing expedition in the same area, relayed seeing Northern Residents and Elizabeth then observed the A50s nearby. The picture was beginning to fill out. By 7:41am the Lab began to hear A5 calls from the Flower Island hydrophone. The whales were, according to Alex, spread from Queen Charlotte Strait and Blackfish Sound.
The A23s, led by Fife (A60) dropped down into Blackney Pass, and into view of the Lab, at 8:20am. As the A23s moved through Blackney toward Johnstone Strait there were still those other whales to the west. The Lab’s attention stayed on the A23s even after they cleared their view at 8:53am as just five minutes later they were seen on the Cracroft Point remote camera. Before crossing to the Vancouver Island side there was a breach. Hard not to imagine that the group was excited to be arriving into Johnstone Strait once more. The Lab continued to monitor their calls between 9 and 11am.
But what of the companions? Olivia identified the A50s’ A1 calls on the Double Bay hydrophone during this time. The Lab’s Flower Island hydrophone signal was very poor, cutting in and out and did not provide much coverage.
The hydrophones in Johnstone Strait were performing much better. At 11:04am, the A23s began a rub at Kaizumi Beach. The rub lasted until 11:20am after which the A23s’ calls began to grow distant.
At 12:21pm Olivia was watching and reported that a group of whales (most likely the A50s) was moving east in Blackfish Sound. Flower Island heard their echolocation moments later. This was as close as this group would come to Blackney Pass at this time.
The A23s had elected to turn west in Johnstone Strait after their rub and by 1:27pm Nicolette saw that they were now off Telegraph Cove. Then a bit of a reporting gap ensued. At 5:56pm, the Blackfish Sound whales were sighted again along the Swanson Island shore heading east They initiated a turn a few minutes later and then started on their way back to the west. As they angled southwest towards Weynton Pass it was thought that they might be finally going to reconnect with the A23s in Johnstone Strait. This did not quite materialise. Blows were seen again in Blackfish Sound at 8:33pm and by 8:44pm Alex confidently reported seeing A60 heading west past Donegal Head and into Queen Charlotte Strait.
Now, we must speculate a bit.. At 11:05pm A50 calls were heard off Parson Island, a hydrophone which listens both to Blackney Pass and Johnstone Strait. The feeling at the Lab was that they had finally come through even though the wave action made it impossible to hear blows. Meanwhile, and at approximately the same time, more “A” calls were again on the Double Bay system in Blackfish Sound. Now that the A50s have finally made it into Johnstone Strait will the A23s join them and summer begins?
