September 12th was one of those days when it felt like there were whales everywhere.
The A34s got things started just after midnight with a short rub at Strider Rubbing beach, followed by several hours of very chatty and occasionally rather funky calls. Around 4:45am, we may have had a brief appearance of what sounded like Bigg’s, but the A34s remained the dominant voices through the early morning. However, not long after 5am, plenty of splashing by sea lions was heard, along with some possible orca blows in Blackney Pass. Could these be our mystery Bigg’s? Unfortunately, in the darkness we couldn’t confidently confirm that they were orca blows, let alone Bigg’s going through the Pass.
Just after 6:20am, fins appeared on the Strider camera despite the low light conditions – a testament to our new camera setup! All of the A34s came in for their second rub of the day at 6:24am with plenty of chuffs and echolocation coming through as they rubbed, though they remained silent apart from a short call right before the rub ended at 6:51am. Once finished, the whales became quite surface active, with breaches, tail slaps and flukes as they moved away from the beach. We can infer that they had a fabulous time. From there, they spread west through Johnstone Strait, some lingering behind around Robson Bight while others continued towards Kaikash and Blinkhorn.
Around 10am, the family was slowly making its way towards Weynton, spread out between bouts of resting, foraging and socializing. There was some uncertainty over whether the A62s were still amongst them, but their excited, buzzy calls on Strider later that morning helped answer that question: they were still there!
Shortly after noon, another family entered the picture. A5 calls rung out on Flower Island, identified as the A25s around Swanson Island. While the A34s remained in Johnstone Strait, the A25s traveled south through Blackfish Sound and entered Blackney Pass at 1:15pm with A61 leading the way. He was shortly followed by A85 and A121. By 1:30pm they had cleared the Pass and joined the growing collection of whales in the Strait.
From there, things got a bit difficult to keep straight. A25 and A34 calls bounced between hydrophones while whales spread from Kaikash to Blinkhorn, crossing back and forth through the Strait and spending much of the afternoon foraging in the rip. A55, A34 and the A96s were among those picked out, while A61s and the rest of the A25s moved amongst them. Directions changed almost by the minute: east, west, back towards the rip, non-directional again. Guardian and her calf were in the mix, too, feeding nearby while the orcas carried on around them. It must have been quite a feast!
Eventually, the whales began trending east along the Vancouver Island shore. By early evening, some of our group had reached the Bight. Farther south, we also received news that the A42s were off Howe Sound, solving a question of where they had gone.
The day had one more highlight in store. At 7:49 our groups approached Strider Rubbing Beach and a third rub of the day took place! This time the A25s and A34s were rubbing together! They flooded the Strider hydrophone with a wonderful mix of calls, chuffs, and echolocation. At one point the A34s even gathered into what we call a little “cuddle puddle” before the rub officially ended at 8:11pm.
The A25s and A34s continued calling into the night before the A25s’ voices eventually faded, leaving just the A34s on Strider once again. After beginning the day at the rubbing beach, it seemed fitting to end up right back where we started.
