September 4th gave us plenty to keep track of, with whales moving back and forth through the area for most of the day. Between the hydrophones, reports from around the Strait, and quite a bit of activity at Cracroft Point – including a special visitor – there was rarely a quiet moment.
We had a few faint Pacific White-sided Dolphin (PWD) and humpback vocals on Flower Island around midnight, but by 6am the A34s (-62s) had joined the conversation, with their voices drifting between Kaizumi Rubbing Beach and Critical Point. By 7:17am, blows were spotted on the Cracroft Point camera. The A34s were hugging the Vancouver Island side of the Strait, heading west and scattered widely.
They circled, changed direction and slowly made their way across the Strait towards the Cracroft Point platform. Foraging seemed to be the number one item on the to-do list for the morning, with long bouts of milling, diving and some playful behaviour with PWDs (including porpoising!) in the rip at the entrance to Blackney Pass. Apparently everyone had found something exciting (maybe yummy?) beneath the waves.
After their hearty meal, the family began making a little progress west and by 10:45am the A34s were seen on the Cracroft Point camera opposite Big Bay. Shortly afterwards, we lost sight of them as they disappeared into the horizon of the Strait, but their voices continued on the Strider hydrophone.
Around lunchtime, another set of orca fins appeared at Cracroft Point – Bigg’s, later ID’ed as the T002Cs. Two groups moved rapidly through the rip before entering Blackney Pass at 1:11pm. They travelled steadily north through the Pass and cleared by 1:25pm. By 2:16pm, they were already well on their way west again, reported in line with Wedge Island in Queen Charlotte Strait.
Amongst the chaos, a very special visitor made their way to the CP platform – an Elephant Seal! Bobbing up and down amongst the kelp beneath the platform, our unexpected guest seemed perfectly content to hang around for a while. With so many eyes usually focused on dorsal fins, it was a good reminder that the wildest encounters are sometimes just below our feet!
The A34s at this point were still chatting away in the Strait. At 3:16pm, word came that the family was rounding Little Hanson and aiming for Blackfish Sound. This time they didn’t dawdle. At 3:20pm, they entered Blackney Pass travelling north. The A67s led the way with the A34s and A96s following closely behind. While they travelled through at consistent speed, near the north edge of the Pass things seemed to ease out a bit. A67 slowed to forage a bit around White Beach Pass and the others milled around Turtle Rock, before everyone continued north, clearing the pass by 3:45pm. Calls and echolocation on Flower Island followed shortly after.
They continued west through Queen Charlotte Strait that evening. The A67s moved ahead and eventually disappeared from view while the rest of the A34s (-62s) travelled roughly parallel to one another with the mothers leading the way near Arrow Passage. By 6:19pm, all of the A34s (-62s) had cleared west from view. And another unexpected visitor – a fin whale – was reported speeding east through Queen Charlotte Strait shortly afterwards!
A34 came back into view from Queen Charlotte Strait around 8pm, and by 8:30pm the family had taken Weynton Passage back into Johnstone Strait. The 34s carried on into the night, their distant calls returning to Strider around 9:38pm. Their voices grew louder again late in the evening, then gradually faded into the distance, with the last calls disappearing just before midnight.
One last honorable mention: it was a night of celebration at the lab, as we celebrated Katie’s birthday and Nadja and Scott’s last night on the island. Magician and Ripple apparently overheard our celebrations, and they decided to join in with one of the loveliest moments of the day. The two humpbacks passed close to the Lab, slowly rolling past with pecs and flukes lifting into the air, almost like a ballet across the water.
It was especially nice to have the hydrophones full today and, even more so, to have some unexpected visitors along the way. A fittingly full day with some magic sprinkled in!
