The A62s were vocal in Johnstone Strait during the night near the entrance of Blackney Pass up until 2:16am. They seemed to have continued west in the Strait as Tjasa went outside to listen but didn’t hear any orca blows in Blackney. A humpback took over the acoustic scene in Blackfish Sound, practicing a song for a little while. Dolphin chatter was heard in the Strait, but no orcas for the rest of the night. A report of four Bigg’s orcas in Weynton Pass came up at 8:58am but they did not travel in our direction.
At 10:30am, the A62s were back in our hydrophone range in Johnstone Strait. Their calls remained distant for most of the morning, they were moving slowly, taking their time like they did yesterday. At 1:50pm we heard them briefly on our Cracroft Point hydrophone before they headed towards Kaizumi Rubbing Beach. They had a 5 minute rub at 3:15pm and continued east along the shore accompanied by pacific white-sided dolphins. Jared was nearby and confirmed they were the A62s.
Less than an hour later, their calls and echolocation sounds were getting closer to Strider Rubbing Beach. They became silent for an hour between 5pm and 6pm. And then all of a sudden we heard chuffs! They engaged in a short 5 minute relaxed rub at Strider before continuing on as we watched them from our remote camera swimming east in the warm sunset colors.
Just after 9pm, a humpback started to vocalize in Blackfish Sound. His calls were close and clear. They brought something really special to the already very special spectacle of Northern Lights we were watching together from the deck!
