Continuing from the previous evening, the A34s were heard in Johnstone Strait heading east in the early morning hours of September 16. They stopped for multiple rubbing sessions, including a two-minute rub at 12:15am and a five-minute rub at 12:23am on Strider Rubbing Beach. Shifting east afterward, a few chuffs – the sound of their bodies rubbing over the smooth pebbles – were also heard on Main Rubbing Beach. From 12:30am onward, Main Rubbing Beach picked up many excited calls as the orcas moved offshore, calls fading by 1:33am as they shifted further east and out of range.
Morning broke with heavy but warm southeast winds. There were high waves everywhere. Echolocation and calls were heard again at 7:34am on the Kaizumi Rubbing Beach system, marking the A34s’ return from the east. About twenty minutes later, chuffs were heard once more and continued at 8:00am after a brief pause. Interestingly, the sounds suggested they were rubbing further offshore, as the chuffs seemed more distant and the Cracroft Point remote camera picked up significant surface activity east of the beach. This session lasted an impressive 46 minutes, making it the longest use of this beach recorded this summer. At 9:25am, the A34s’ excited calls shifted onto the Cracroft Point system. These A34s would continue west from there and probably out through Weynton Pass to Queen Charlotte Strait.
About half an hour later, the T060s entered Blackney Pass from the south. They travelled only about a third of the way in before turning back, leaving the Lab’s view by 10:17am. Shortly after, they became vocal briefly near Parson Island before disappearing into Johnstone Strait. Meanwhile, the A34s remained active at Cracroft Point, creating together with the Biggs an interesting soundscape. Travelling west after 12:30pm, the A34 calls faded by 2:18pm as they slipped out of the hydrophone network to the west.
At 4:10pm, the spectrogram of Blackfish Sound showed very distant echolocation and whistles, too faint to be heard in the Lab. Moments later, four orcas surprised the Lab by passing quickly to the north. With no clear IDs due to the speed of their passage, their behavior suggested them to be transients. The profile of three smaller fins and one large fin matched the earlier sightings of the T060s.
Close to 5:00pm, as the wind was abating, echolocation in Blackfish Sound once more drew the Lab’s attention. From there the picture became less clear. As the Bigg’s orcas in Blackfish Sound were hugging Swanson Island’s shoreline, Alex reported a group of 9–10 orcas coming from the north, raising the questions about the A34s. Others from this group were reported off the entrance to Weynton Passage opposite Weynton Island. Around 7:00pm, orcas were seen crossing toward Weynton Passage. The last A34 calls in Blackfish Sound were heard at 7:39pm, followed by calls in Johnstone Strait’s western end as the groups emerged from Weynton and merged at 9:47pm. Infrequent echolocation and calls continued into the late hours,
Meanwhile, the A23s were reported in the morning east of Read Island travelling north, while the A25s were possibly seen near Vivian Rocks, outside of Revelstoke River, travelling south. such a full day.
Words by Freddy
