Until 6:51am the A34s gave no indication about their whereabouts. The night had been all about humpbacks. One very vocal fellow was off the entrance ot Blackney Pass for quite a while joined briefly by another. His calls echoed between stations and had a haunting delivery. Really quite different. Eventually, he slipped further into Blackney and could be heard both on the Parson and Fower Island stations, somehow dodging the worst of the boat noise of a large vessel heading through Blackfish and into Johnstone Strait.
Not long after the A34s were heard in Blackfish, at 7:49am, A34 calls were heard in Johnstone Strait. By 8:23am, these calls were also picked up by Cracroft Point. So in likelihood the A34s had split into different groups. Technically still in touch via the portal provided by the entrance way to Blackney Pass. Emphasizing this point, calls were heard in Blackfish Sound at 9:33am and orcas were seen heading west on the remote Cracroft Island camera followed by excited calls. Pacific White-sided dolphins were present too.
An hour later, orcas appeared in the space between Parson Island and Hanson Island. Their non directional, milling behaviour suggested Bigg’s orcas but their faraway dorsal fins suggested Northern Residents. A pretty good sized group of dolphins sped noth while identifications were being sorted. Ten minutes after being spotted they returned to Johnstone Strait and headed east mid strait. Dolphins were with them further suggesting Resident types.
A very persistent sailboat followed them closely into Johnstone Strait.
After, at 11:56am, there were more calls in Blackfish Sound. Then the pattern from earlier in the morning was repeated. A34 calls were again heard in both locals, Johnstone Strait and Blackfish Sound. Around 1pm. The calls toggled between the two spaces. Those in Johnstone Strait seemed to have shifted while the calls on Flower seemed to be getting closer. This pattern continued until 4:44pm.
The dolphins off Cracroft Point began chattering at 6:06pm just before distant A34 calls were heard in Blackfish Sound. For the next hour the calls in Blackfish grew stronger and clearer. Echo location was heard. By 7:53pm the A34s had shifted out of range. Time for the humpbacks to take over. From 9pm until just before midnight, at times really beautiful, the humpbacks filled Blackfish Sound with their sounds.
