Our guess as to what the orcas would do next the previous evening turned out to be correct. The groups did return to Johnstone Strait. But it took a while. There were still distant calls in Blackfish Sound at 12:12am briefly. An hour went by before we heard anything more when we realised that at least an A5 group had made it back. Not yet enough clear acoustic information to say which group. Another hour was to pass before we realised that they already had some I15 company travelling far enough out in the middle for the Critical Point hydrophone to pick up their calls. Around 3am, the A54s became vocal too. Lots of boat noise compromised our listening abilities. When this partially cleared the whales were west of Robson Bight. They had made some progress but as to where each group was inconclusive. After 6am, that began to change when the orcas finally began to approach Robson Bight. By now Tomoko had identified the A5 calls as belonging to the A25s. The I15 group had drawncloser to Strider by 6:30 am.
None of this Resident activity seemed to distract Tomoko, who is in Japan, from keeping an eye on the remote base camera via explore.org. She noticed a small group of 4 individuals passing the Lab to the north mid channel at 6:49am. The Lab was really surprised. They had not seen these whales and it was not for lack of keeping a watchful eye on the Pass. These whales were silent and their blows so quiet that they passed undetected in the still grey morning light.
By 7:04am, the Residents were becoming excited. Through yet more boat noise we could hear them closer to Critical Point off Robson Bight. At 7:14am there was lots of echolocation on Strider but no rub just yet. The I15 group who had been nearest Strider had continued east. About a half hour later the whale watchers reported seven Resident orcas off the eastern boundary and now coming west. Calls of the I15s became loud and excited and a rub occurred from 8:06am until 8:09am.
A second surprise for the day. The T109A2s, consisting of four individuals, went north close to the Lab at 8:33am. This time the Lab was “on it”, getting good identification pictures. The question remained were these the same Bigg’s as the ones at 6:49am? The numbers and profile of the group were compelling but their travel in the same direction was confusing. If the same whales, then they must have slipped by again after the first pass. This time they cleared our view by going around Burnt Point at 8:35am.
The Residents, meanwhile, were still calling and echolocating vigorously on the Critical Point hydrophone from 8:37am. Calls then stopped at 8:50am and resumed as both faint & distant at 9:31am. But it became clear, the I15 group was now approaching Kaizumi and before their rub started at 10:07am their calls had become loud and clear. The rub ended within three minutes and they continued west.
The whale watchers were, at this time, watching the T109A2s nearing the Plumper islands still going west.
The Residents were also still westbound and as they did so their calls came onto the Cracroft Island systems around 10:35am and then onto the Parson Island system as the whales crossed the area opposite the entrance to Blackney Pass. They did not come in but carried on to the west and into Weynton Pass.
Scotty reported seeing the A62s, A23s, and I4s heading north into Weynton Pass at 11:34am. We still could hear A5s in the Strait at 12:12pm and surmised this to be the A25s following behind. The result of all this movement was that all the groups left the Strait. We soon heard the A54s, A25s and possibly the I65s in Blackfish Sound by 12:50pm. They would continue to be heard distantly until 2:52pm as they moved further into Queen Charlotte Strait.
One last Bigg’s report. At 1:21pm the same T109A2s journeyed back to Blackney. They came quickly and close to the Lab and disappeared to the south in a hasty six minutes while taking characteristically long dives. Had their turn around been influenced by hearing the Residents come out of Weynton Pass earlier? Quite possibly.
With the departure of the orcas and no humpback vocal efforts, the rest of the day and night was strangely uneventful. We were left hoping this would soon change!
