At 1:21am, Flower Island hydrophone picked up the distinctive bubble sounds of an active humpback. It’s been a while since we have heard bubble net feeding. The humpback tried one time then the ocean became quiet for a while, until two cruise ships went through Blackney Pass to Blackfish Sound. The fog was too thick to see the cruise ships even though they are usually very visible with their bright lights.
At 4:47am, the humpback started vocalizing in Blackfish Sound. It was not quite “Song” yet but it was a a hint that they will soon start singing in ernest in the near future.
A5 calls and echolocation clicks began in Blackfish Sound at 8:21am. The A23 and A25 calls became frequent and closer before 9am,. An hour later their blows were heard as they travelled south through foggy Blackney Pass. The fog was thick but two mature males were luckily visible The calls shifted on to the Parson Island hydrophone system by 9:41am. The blows cleared to Johnstone Strait at 9:53am and the whales were then in range of the Cracroft Island hydrophone and remote camera at 9:56am. Some went east, their faint silhouettes soon fading into the fog. Kaizumi Rubbing Beach hydrophone registered calls at 10:14am but the calls remained distant on Kaizumi, as they they kept going east closer to the Cracroft Island side evidenced by a report of 6 orcas off Growler Cove going east at 10:31am.
Critical Point hydrophone picked up clearer calls at 11:21am. The A23s and A25s were very spread out, 2 small small fins came into Strider Rubbing beach for a 2-minute quick rub at 12:17pm. Another fly-by rub happened at 12:43pm with a group of Pacific white-sided dolphins following the orcas. A60 and A61 remained offshore. The whales kept going east from the beaches.
Were they headed far as they did the other day when they went into the Salish Sea? Luckily today turned out to be different. The research vessel Achiever reported that the A23s and A25s reached Adam River and turned 180 degrees around after 2pm.
Sure enough the Main Rubbing beach hydrophone detected their calls at 3:17pm as they progressed westward. We waited to hear the chuff sound but it never happened. It seemed the whales took mid strait on the way back to the west in Johnstone Strait. Eventually,some five hours later, the A23s and A25s kept going west and took Weynton Pass toward Blackfish Sound. The last calls we heard were at 8:25pm as they moved away from Blackfish into Queen Charlotte Strait.
Meanwhile at the Lab, we celebrated the well known sea gull called Uni’s arrival. She was a little bit late for the season but we were so happy to see her looking for sea urchins in the kelp patch near the Lab.
