The Resident orca families had gone eastward past the Ecological Reserve in Johnstone Strait after their previous evening rubs at Strider Beach. They were gone for several hours. One of the families, the A25s, had gone very far east the previous afternoon so perhaps the other groups hoped to reconnect?
Their return was tentative at first with one of the I15 groups coming into range only briefly from 12:19am to 12:33am. Another approach happened from 2:26 to 2:37am. Dolphins, however, were continuously chatting throughout.
There is a lovely sense that comes over one when sitting in the Lab at night, with earphones on listening to the hydrophones, anticipating. When the first distant calls are heard, and you understand where, you are transported. This is intimate, just you and the whales you have come to know.
The following is Barbara Chauvet’s experience of this particular morning.
“My shift had started rather quietly, with the last calls stopping a few minutes before 3 am. For two hours, I listened carefully, wondering if this would be the second quiet night in a row. At 4:51 am, faint calls pulled me out of my reverie. I adjusted the sound mixer excitedly. The A30s could be heard on Strider hydrohone. Soon, I could clearly distinguish different calls, as the A5s and I15s joined the party. They were traveling in Johnstone Strait. The calls got closer, and a few minutes later, I realized that I could hear them on three different hydrophones. I closed my eyes and listened in the dark, focusing on sounds. I imagined them underwater, talking to each other. What a privilege to listen to their conversations. A few minutes before 6 am, I heard echolocation on Critical Point and Strider Hydrophones. And the calls were getting louder. At 6 am, a sound startled me. The beautiful, rhythmic sound of pebbles being brushed under the surface. The whales had started to rub. It was a serene, grounding sound, the orcas brushing the sea bed in a slow, deliberate dance. I rushed to look at the Strider rubbing beach camera. It would still be dark for another hour, but after searching for movement for a minute or two, I could see black fins at the surface. Three orcas, circling around the beach. I watched them and listened to their excited calls as they rubbed for twelve minutes. The rubbing stopped, and I tried to follow their movement, wondering which direction they would take. But a few minutes later they came back for a second rub, and a third one. They stopped a few minutes before the sun rose, and their mesmerizing calls slowly drifted away. “
The rubs were not quite complete before the calls of whales already further west came up on the Critical Point hydrophone at 7:10am. The mixture of I15, A30 and A5 calls were sometimes loud as the whales rounded the headland into the Bight.
The western movement resulted in the orcas finding a path to Blackney Pass. The A23s went first at 9:54am and were gone by 10:29. A60, as typical, was in the lead. Over twenty minutes later, at 10:47am, the I65s along with their A54 rubbing buddies followed on the Hanson Island side of mid channel. A small group of the A54s trailed behind. The I4s and the recently returned A25s travelled the farside together. The groups were travelling Blackfish Sound by noon.
During this passage, the glaucus winged gull “Uni” was moving around OrcaLab’s bay. Uni has returned each year to OrcaLab for more than two decades. Her behaviour of fishing for small green urchins inspired her name. Uni means urchin in Japanese. Although she was a bit late this year she usually returns around the same time. Her unique repeated patterns help us recognise her. We are excited to welcome her back!
Long after the orcas had passed Jérémie was kindly driving Paul and Helena to town. His visiting father Jean Claude was along for the ride, His mother Marilyn, looking at the bouncy waves, declined and stayed at OrcaLab. As the Sonic neared the Plumper Islands the way was blocked by a humpback in the narrow passageway. Jérémie elected to go around the outside of these islands and into Weynton Passage only to soon realise that there were Resident orcas on their way back to Johnstone Strait breaching as they went. They were quite spread out in small groups so finding an appropriate path was challenging, made more so by the humpbacks also present. Jérémie managed beautifully and the Sonic crossed without incident. The Lab was contacted to expect to hear Residents soon. By the time Jérémie returned from town the whales were already approaching Big Bay on Hanson Island.
Amazingly many of the Residents curled into Blackney Pass. At 5:18pm it was the A25s leading this time. As they momentarily turned back to the south, the A23s came into view along with the I4s. As the A54s were there too this left only the I65s in Johnstone Strait. What followed was a duet of Resident calls in Blackfish and in Johnstone Strait until 8:32pm.
At least the A54s made an attempt to come back into Blackney but decided to return to Blackfish Sound where calls ended around 11:30pm.
With mentioning the visit from Jérémie’s parents we need to add that Suzie’s parents, Nick and Gilly came for a brief back to back visit too. Nick and Gilly are from the UK, Jean Claude and Marilyn from France. For each it was their first visit to Canada. It was lovely to realize that OrcaLab has become so important to Suzie and Jérémie that they wanted to show their families what they have dedicated their lives to. We wish them all safe journeys back to their homes.
