After the A34s grew quiet around midnight, no calls were heard again until 8:08am. It seemed they had left the remote hydrophone network to the east for several hours. Steadily coming closer towards the rubbing beaches, the A34s and A67s reached Main Rubbing Beach by 11:22am, pausing for a brief fly-by rub before moving on to Strider Rubbing Beach. There, a rubbing session began at 11:27am and lasted 24 minutes, first with the A34s, followed by the A67s. It turned into one of the most beautiful rubs of the month, creating remarkable footage both above and below the water.
Within the three groups of the A34s, the small A34 group and the A67s are observed travelling closely together most of the time, while the A62s tend to move more independently. Not seeing them together is therefore not unusual, though, since the A62s were not visible on the remote cameras, the question remains open where they may have split from the A62s and where this group is now. There was some evidence from the day before that they ended up in Blackfish Sound going west to Queen Charlotte Strait.
Very vocal during the rub, the whales grew quieter afterwards as they continued west. By 2:30pm they arrived at Kaizumi Rubbing Beach, where they stopped for another short rub before resuming their westward journey toward Weynton Pass.
Around 5pm, their calls entered the remote network of Blackfish Sound, where they remained audible for the next three hours. Nicolette from Double Bay also reported hearing them on her hydrophone, which has an acoustic window reaching further north than the Lab’s, creating a small area of acoustic overlap. A passing seemed likely, but instead the A34s and A67s travelled through Weynton Passage back into Johnstone Strait, being heard again by 9:09pm.
As they moved east, their calls grew clearer and stronger on the Strider Rubbing Beach hydrophone by 9:43pm. By 10:14pm, the last calls of the day became swamped by persistent boat noise. It is suggested the whales once again left the network to the east.
Meanwhile, the A25s and A42s were reported by PWWA south of Richmond earlier in the day, raising hopes of their return north before long.
The weather, however, was once again marked by heavy rain. Days like this make warm indoor spaces all the more inviting. With the stove nearby and a bowl of soup in hand, it was the perfect way to close out a wet coastal day.
