The silent darkness was punctured at 3:40am, with faint A54 calls in the western end of Johnstone Strait. These orcas had not gone far from the night previous, and had finally made their way through Weynton Passage. They did not give many more hints as to their whereabouts until the day had fully broken, and they were calling loudly in the entrance to Blackney Pass at 8:05am. Meanwhile, our day broke out with a ‘bang’ — or several — as two humpbacks breached out front of the lab at 6:10am, barely visible through layers of thick fog.
At 8:25am, a few orca fins were barely visible through the haze, but we could track them through Blackney Pass into Blackfish Sound by counting their ‘blows’ as they passed. A few acoustic clues as they passed told us that all groups — A54s, A23s, A25s and I4s — were present and together again. Their passing was brief, entering the Sound by 8:43am. During this time, a huge group of Pacific White-Sided Dolphins made several close passes to the lab and our neighboring bays — their chatter was audible and it made quite the foreground to an eerie, foggy backdrop! The orcas were largely silent, giving us one last quiet round of calls in Blackfish Sound at 9:44am.
The rest of the day — from our perspective — was spent enjoying the dramatic fog banks burning off in the bright sun to reveal brilliant blue skies. We said goodbye to two dear lab assistants, Sullivan and Paolo, who have been incredible help to us this summer and will be sorely missed.
Back to the Northern Residents, and it was the A5s to first make themselves known again at 3pm, back in Blackfish Sound. At 3:24pm, calls from the A54s and I4s in Johnstone Strait told us that they had taken Weynton Pass. The A23s and A25s zoomed past the lab at 4pm, with the current in their favor, and also entered the Strait. We sensed a reunion was imminent!
Sure enough, All groups rejoined in the ripping current off Cracroft Point, and turned back towards us. This time, they were plenty vocal, and came by the lab in a procession starting at 5:12pm. Part of the A54s came first, favoring the far side of the pass, while the A86s of that matriline came much closer to the lab. Next, the A23s travelled mid-passage in a tight family unit, with the A25s flanking them a little further away. Finally, the I4s, too, made a closer line past the lab, and all were clear to the north by 5:55pm. It was a beautiful passage, with the beginnings of golden light, and a group of Pacific White-Sided Dolphins also sped through the scene, shimmering in the setting sun.
As has been their preference these last few days, all groups seemed to linger in Blackfish Sound for the next few hours, calling infrequently and drawing steadily further from our ears to the west.
