What an incredible season 2024 has been! (And we’re hoping it’s not over.) It all started with the A23s and the A42s on July 3rd. And as of November 3rd, with a visit of the A23s to the rubbing beaches, we can now say that we have recorded 4 months of nearly continuous Northern Resident presence this year!
But let’s rewind a little to November 2nd. At 5:30pm, we observed a group of Bigg’s orcas come in from Blackfish Sound. Six whales with small fins were travelling close together, followed by a large male and then another group of 3 whales with small fins. None of them had distinct markings which didn’t help us with identification, but thanks to Finwave, we’ve had confirmation that they were members of the T075Bs, T002Cs and T068Cs. They travelled to the Parson Island shoreline, close to a popular sea lion haul out. Through the rain and dark light, we managed to see them hunting actively. They soon started calling on the Parson Island hydrophone as well as breaching, spy hopping and tail slapping! The feast was being shared. We lost track of them after 6:13pm as the light faded.
The night went on with uninterrupted humpback songs close to our hydrophones in both Blackney Pass and Blackfish Sound. In the early morning of November 3rd, we spotted the humpbacks Argonaut, Inukshuk, Vulture, Trinity and Cutter super close to the lab, slowly travelling south together along the shore. These individuals have been in Blackney Pass continuously for days now and it only took a quick look at their dorsal fins to know who they were! What a beautiful morning to watch their blows float still in the air as they moved on away from our view.
At 9:25am, we heard faint Bigg’s calls in Johnstone Strait and wondered if they were the ones we saw the day before. Nothing else happened after that in the acoustic ocean world until 4:59pm when we heard the unquestionable sound of orcas rubbing against the pebbles!
‘Chuffs’!
These chuffs were loud and clear on the Strider Rubbing Beach hydrophone. We quickly turned on the remote camera and almost immediately saw A95 as well as A60 rubbing with the rest of their family, the A23s! They didn’t produce any calls and we were so grateful for this camera that allowed us to identify them visually! They continued to the west in the young night and it didn’t take long for the humpbacks to start singing!
