Even though all the Resident orcas, the A54s, A62s, I4s, I65s, I16s and I27s, left for Queen Charlotte Strait late afternoon on the 19th, some of the I15s and later the A62s, returned to the Strait by the early hours of the 20th. The I15 group, or groups, came in first and by 2:30am were already west of Robson Bight travelling east along the Vancouver Island shore. In the next hour they approached Strider Beach and within ten minutes after that their calls were close and within fifteen minutes of that they hit the beach in dramatically loud fashion. The rub lasted from 3:55am until 4am. From Strider they continued east and could be heard on Main beach hydrophone as well.
At 4:19am, the I15s were upstaged by a humpback in Blackney Pass who began “pec” slapping the water. Georgia likened the sound to gunshots. It was that loud. Then the humpback breached from the sea lion rock to the south of the Lab to Burnt Point north of the Lab.
Shortly afterwards at 4:33am the A62s let their presence be known. They happened to be not far from the I15s. Up to this point they had been silent travelling partners. Their calls were on both Main and Strider systems. They too went for a rub from 4:41 until 4:48am. The rub was followed by loud, excited, almost frantic calls. From 5:12am their calls grew a bit more distant and in short order more of their calls were heard faintly on the Critical Point system to the west. The A62s had decided to return to Robson Bight.
The humpback off the Lab added a few more breaches.
By 5:18am the A62s were clearly off Critical Point, the eastern headland of Robson Bight. The I15s however lingered near the area adjacent to Strider and at 5:52am their calls were close and an hour later frequent and excited.
At the Lab it was now time to change shifts. Julia replaced Georgia who on her way to get some rest, was still probably thinking about those breaching, pec slapping humpbacks just off the Lab under the clear and starry night.
As Julia welcomed the dawn, the I15s and A62s were still calling and at 7:21am a mother and baby from the I15s made a few passes over Strider beach on their way to the west.
The required twenty minute interval had orcas coming up to Critical Point with a strong stream of echolocation as they “rounded” the corner into the Bight. The westward trek was determined. It wasn’t long before the orcas passed Kaizumi beach. It was not yet quite 8am.
Using the remote Cracroft Point surface camera we witnessed six orcas approaching from the east at 8:29am. This sighting was followed-up by close calls and orcas passing at 8:44am. They were headed directly to the entrance of Blackney Pass.
Finally, we were able to get a sense of which I15 groups had been in the Strait. It turned out to be all four family groups. By 8:53am the I4s were already half way through Blackney. Then came the A62s and the I27s. They were all moving fast with the strong ebb current. The I16s were next. After these groups left our view and entered Blackfish Sound by 9:10am we heard more I15 type calls on Parson Island. Our gaze turned south. Sure enough the I65s, the last of the I15s, came into view. Like the others they travelled north reaching Blackfish by 9:38am.
There had been one anomaly during what looked to be a normal south – north passing. At 8:52am, before the orcas were seen in Blackney Pass, the Lab detected a call and echolocation on the Flower Island system. The call was clear enough to suggest the presence of the I31s. Later, at 12:54 the same call was intriguingly repeated twice more. We were left wondering.
The A62s and the I15s continued to call in Blackfish Sound as they slowly staged their entrance into Weynton Pass. By 1:11pm calls stopped. When they resumed at 2:09pm the Residents were back in Johnstone Strait.
There was no sign of the A54s who left during that late afternoon trek to Queen Charlotte Strait on the 19th. It was left up to the A62s and I15s therefore to occupy Johnstone Strait.
After their entry they advanced eastward. In due course most found themselves off the entrance to Blackney Pass. They continued calling for several hours. Most of the calls waxed and waned in strength as the groups moved around the Strait. The I65s were an exception, they made their way to Strider where at 6:53pm they rubbed for seven minutes. Afterwards, they could be seen resting between Strider and Main beach. At 7:28pm they came in for a repeated rub but this time they left to the west and were heard with a group of dolphins at 7:49pm.
Meanwhile, Scotty had found and identified the T109A2s near Stubbs Island in Weynton Pass at 7:23pm.
The Strait became uncharacteristically silent for a couple of hours after this. A humpback in Blackfish, with his grumbles, clicks and creaks, caught our attention from 10:12pm until 10:40pm. Perhaps the same humpback or perhaps another started up again in Blackfish at 11:14pm.
In Johnstone Strait, after 11pm, the I15s let out a few calls and did some echolocation but by 11:30pm they were quiet. They were not gone. The orca chorus would pick up once more after midnight.
