On review the night of the 4th revealed that the A34s had returned to Johnstone Strait before 3am and by then they were already well into Johnstone Strait. They began a four minute rub at Strider Beach at 2:57am and another at 3:14am. This last one was really just a minute. Staying in this vicinity for another ten minutes the whales began to shift slowly back to the west, achieving some progress west of Robson Bight by 7am. But it would be nearly 5 hours before they were located with the help of the Cracroft Point remote camera just before noon.
All this while humpbacks were vocal in Blackfish Sound maintaining a presence through the night.
The A34s basically parked themselves between Cracroft Point and the entrance to Blackney Pass for the next several hours while they seriously foraged in the churned up waters of the rip current.
The day was grey but not rainy with westerly winds. The sea responded to the max flood and wind by becoming even more energetic. This is when Jianna in the Lab monitoring the whales foraging in the rip saw that someone was in the water! Five men had apparently left their camp on Hanson Island in a canoe, kayak and paddleboard to see the whales. They got caught and overpowered by the rip. The canoe overturned and both paddlers were tossed into the sea. One managed to get onto the paddleboard but the other was unable to get out immediately. Jianna alerted Lydia and Barbara. Barbara alerted Helena and Paul in the main house while she got Rich to go and get the Sonic. In very little time, she and Rich had the Sonic underway while Helena called the Coast Guard. Tim at Farewell Harbour heard the call to the Coast Guard and responded that they too would proceed to the scene.
Sonic arrived first and Rich managed to pull the man, who had been in the water for over 30 minutes, safely into the boat. Rich and Barbara then assisted the two on the paddleboard into the boat as well. The other two, still in the double kayak, had managed to get out of the rip but their boat was now heavy with water. As Rich and Barbara returned to OrcaLab, the Farewell Harbour boat, the Eagle 54 was now on scene. They helped the two in the kayak aboard but needed assistance from another boat who used its crane to lift and drain the kayak. The canoe had sunk and was lost.
Rich and Barbara arrived back at the Lab with their passengers. The man who had been in the water the longest was in bad shape. After a long while, two hot water bottles, hot sugary tea, warm sleeping bags organised by Lydia, he started to improve. By this time Tim had arrived back with the other two members of the party. Tim generously offered to take all five over to Farewell Harbour Lodge where their kayak had already been taken. The group was anxious to return to their camp and after much discussion and differing opinions, they decided that, when they were ready, Rich would take them back to camp. Tim left but later helped the guys by connecting them with a water taxi who would pick them up the next morning. Rich took one of the party to look for the canoe but this was a futile effort. While Rich was looking for the canoe Barbara, an experienced kayaker, sternly advised the rest that they had been ill-prepared to go into Johnstone Strait under such conditions and there was no way for them to even think about getting back on the water and crossing to Telegraph Cove. They were also compromised because they had lost the canoe. They listened and became convinced the water taxi was their best option.
By nightfall and after all the excitement of the day the A34s finally gave up the rip but elected to stay in Johnstone Strait, go for a rub at 9:49pm after which they grew increasingly quiet and their exact movements hard to discern. A humpback, in Blackfish, soon punctuated the dark with a few clear “whups” setting the night up for more.
We spent some time at dinner and afterwards reviewing the day, talking about what could have been done better and more effectively but feeling really relieved by the outcome which could have been so much worse. They were so fortunate that OrcaLab had the remote cameras and that Jianna figured out what was happening . . . otherwise?
Special thanks go to the Victoria Rescue Coast Guard and Farewell Harbour.
