June 24: Saint-Jean-Babtiste Day or La Fête nationale du Québec!
Here in British Columbia and at the Lab Katie kept track of the A50s in Johnstone Strait before and after midnight. She had the impression the A50s went into Johnstone Strait via Blackney Pass and then most likely east once past the entrance to Blackney Pass. The calls were infrequent between 12:05am and 1am when there was a burst of loud and excited calls off Critical Point (Robson Bight). Their echo location and continued calls at 1:30am indicated that at least some of the group had not yet shifted from this location. However, there were, at the same time, calls on the Strider Beach hydrophone to the east of Critical so Katie wondered if the group had spread out. There were no calls after 1:40am and their trail went cold.
Earlier just after the A50s made it to Johnstone Strait there were other whales in Blackfish Sound. Again the Flower Island hydrophone was acting up and the calls were difficult to identify clearly but logic suggests the A23s. They had been seen earlier that evening making entry into Queen Charlotte Strait after their brief stint in Johnstone Strait.
The next day told us something of what must have happened over night. In the morning around 11:40am the A23s and the A50s were observed by Troy Bright at Bere Point. After a good rubbing session they went west. Then late in the afternoon, around 5pm, Troy observed the A23s 400 meters off the Malcolm Island shore near Bere Point around 5pm. They were headed east into the fog. A while later, at 5:51pm, the A50s passed Troy in a tight group, also 400 meters from the shore, and also headed east. So the conclusion must be that the A50s left Johnstone Strait by morning, joined with the lingering A23s and went west through Queen Charlotte Strait for a time before making their way back in the afternoon. A typical orca circuit!
Megan added a lovely piece of news that the humpback she helped disentangle in 2024, “Smoke 2” , was seen in the upper Salish Sea with a new baby! What an amazing sighting to “complete” this story.
