September 5th was a day of stop-and-go, especially on the hydrophones. Just when we thought the calls had finished, someone would pipe up again, almost immediately after we stopped a recording. It became something of a running joke: stop recording, calls; start recording, silence. Thanks, guys!
The night started noisily, with the A34’s (-62s) chatter reaching both Kaizumi and Strider Rubbing Beach shortly before 1am. The calls drifted closer and farther away over the next couple of hours. By around 2:48am their voices had quieted, but echolocation continued on Critical Point before another loud burst of calls, buzzes and some particularly funky vocals arrived shortly after 3am. Calls and echolocation then shifted between Strider and Main Rubbing Beach, continuing faintly into the early morning.
Around 6am, a humpback surprised us with a bubble net feeding call and bubbles on Parson Island, a nice transition as the last of the early morning A34 calls faded from Strider around 6:30am.
Things picked up again shortly after 9am, with calls returning to Main and Strider Rubbing Beach. At 10:23am, we had the A34s on the Robson Bight camera travelling west along the Vancouver Island side of Johnstone Strait. They continued steadily west over the next few hours, hugging the shoreline while their calls popped in and out across Kaizumi and Strider.
By early afternoon, there was quite a bit of excitement had by the 34s, seen by our team at CP. Splashes appeared around Blinkhorn, followed by breaches and plenty of surface activity. The A34s continued to be particularly chatty on Strider through the afternoon and they eventually reached the Flower Island hydrophone later on. We also received word from Barbara that calls had been picked up on the Foster hydrophone between 5:10 and 5:35pm.
By 6:06pm, the A34s were back in Queen Charlotte Strait. A80 turned east towards the Hanson Island side between Donegal and Wedge Island, while more whales were spread from Flower Island towards Bold Head. Not long afterwards, the family grouped up along the boundary of Queen Charlotte Strait and Blackfish Sound and pointed east. Calls briefly returned to Flower Island, with plenty of Pacific Whiter-sided Dolphins chatter joining the evening soundtrack. The last clear calls came through around 8:20pm.
Then came a rather lovely moment to finish their day. By 8:59pm, most of the A34s were travelling along the Plumper Islands towards Weynton Passage – except A55, who remained behind near the north end of Swanson Island. Rather than continuing without him, the family stopped, turned around and began making their way back towards where he had last been seen. A beautiful glimpse of the bonds that hold these families together.
To end the night, we had a short burst of humpback vocals at 10:29pm on Flower Island. Another full day around the lab, with plenty of voices beneath the water!
