After remaining quietly in Johnstone Strait through the previous afternoon, the A23s were heard again at 12:42am on the Kaizumi Rubbing Beach hydrophone. With no boats in the area, their strong calls carried across multiple hydrophones, suggesting the group was spread out and milling in the Strait. Before long, their voices were joined by the energetic chatter of Pacific White-sided dolphins and the low grunts of a humpback whale. Around 2:30am, one individual produced a series of particularly distinctive calls, raising the question of what they might have meant. By 3am the calls began to fade, and the group shifted east. At 4:16 am, a quiet 4-minute rub took place on Strider Rubbing Beach before they continued eastward and slipped out of the network.
The morning brought news of the A34s. At 8am, Kate Brauer reported a group of Northern Residents eastbound off Beautiful Bay just east of Bere Point on Malcolm Island, reaching Black Bluffs by 8:50am. This would turn out to be some of the A34s. Meanwhile, the A23s returned from the east to Strider Rubbing Beach, where they enjoyed a beautiful 15-minute rub at 10:08am before heading west once again. A glimpse of them was caught on the remote camera half an hour later in Robson Bight. At the same time, Troy reported the A67s trailing behind the A34s, approaching Black Bluff close to shore and foraging.
By early afternoon, the picture became clearer. At 1pm, PWWA reported the A23s past Blinkhorn, still travelling west with A60 in the lead, a familiar pattern this summer. The A34s reached Blackfish Sound soon after, their calls becoming stronger and more frequent as they got closer to the Lab. At 2:23 pm, Farewell Harbour noted a lone orca off Freshwater Bay heading southeast. This aligned with A55, far ahead of his family, entering Blackney Pass around 3 pm. His distinct calls were picked up at Parson Island. Though it is rare to link calls to a single individual, such recognitions are invaluable. Helena for example recalled how Springer, too, was identified through a distinctive call her mother once made when she separated temporarily from her family group.
By 3:45pm, the A34s and A67s quite spread out and passed the Lab. On entering the Strait the A34s became excited and elected to go west along the Hanson Island shore in the direction of the A23s. The A23s, still travelling against the currents at the bottom of Weynton Passage, could be heard faintly calling in the distance. Around 4:30pm, Scotty reported that the A23s, who had moved into Weynton Pass, turned back to the Strait in co-ordination with the A34s and A67s who also reversed course at Big Bay, lining up along the Hanson Island shore before continuing eastward.
With the A34s and A67s in the lead and the A23s following, PWWA reported the A62s at Masterman Island, reaching Port Hardy by 5:30pm. This meant that the entire A34 family of fourteen were almost in the same locale.
At 6:28pm, members of the A34s stopped briefly for a rub on Kaizumi Rubbing Beach before continuing toward Strider where at 7:03 pm, the A23s arrived for a beautiful 7-minute rub, while the A34s remained just offshore, seemingly leaving them space. For the next hour and a half, both groups lingered close to shore just east of Strider Rubbing Beach, their movements unhurried and non-directional. Another rubbing session began at 8:46 pm, though by then it was fully dark. Close A34 calls suggested it was their turn. This time the A23s did not rub. By 10:15pm, the calls faded and the whales slipped beyond the hydrophone network.
At 11pm, a few A34 calls were picked up in Blackfish Sound. Perhaps the A62s had arrived from the west, or the A34s and A67s had split, with one group slipping out of Johnstone Strait unnoticed.
A final note came today from Killer Whales of BC, reporting that A73 (Springer) and her offspring, along with some of the A35s, had been sighted at Ketchikan on September 7th. After dinner, Helena shared Springer’s story once again. Even those who had heard it many times before were touched anew; a reminder of the deep connections carried within this story.
Words by Freddy
