Oh humpback whales! Let’s talk about them first. Their numbers have been incredibly rising in Blackney Pass for the past few weeks. On October 28th, we even identified 16 individuals just out front the lab! Their blows were popping up every few seconds, which was quite overwhelming at times as we’d have loved to account for every humpback out there but probably missed a few! These whales have been very busy getting their bellies full with small fish, most likely herring. Some of them use a trap-feeding technique where they remain stationary at the surface with their mouth open waiting for fish to come in. You can learn more about this strategy on the MERS website.
When ships come through, we often worry about these whales who are really quite busy living their lives and not necessarily aware of fast vessels. The marine traffic is not as dense at this time of year but there are still several ships passing every day at full speed. We noticed a ferry slightly diverting its course when a whale was in its path but it did not slow down.
Meanwhile, the A62s have maintained a steady presence. On October 28th, they were only vocal in Johnstone Strait from 12:45pm until 1:51pm. But the next day, they were travelling east in Johnstone Strait as early as 1:45am and then rubbed at all 3 rubbing beaches on their way back west! Just before 9am, they spent 14 minutes rubbing between Main Rubbing Beach and Strider Rubbing Beach in the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve, then they had an 11 minute rub at Kaizumi Rubbing Beach around 1pm. Their calls faded in the Strait after 3pm and we thought they continued west. To our surprise, they had decided to silently take the Blackney route! At 4:18pm, we spotted them from the lab, travelling north all together. They interacted with Trinity, one of the many humpbacks present in Blackney Pass, before clearing our view at 4:41pm. After that, their calls were loud and clear in Blackfish Sound and a humpback was also singing in the same area. The A62s left our hydrophone range after 6:44pm while several humpbacks continued to sing as the night took over this beautiful windy day. On October 30th, our recorder was on all day long again, as the A62s were in Blackfish Sound from 7:50am untill 7pm. As of today though, October 31st, we have not heard them again and are seriously wondering: have they left for good?
