Building upon the adventure from the night of the 8th… the A34s and the A5s continued their journey east through the Strait until the early hours with calls echoing between Strider, Main Rubbing Beach and Critical Point. Reports later in the day confirmed that the A42s were definitely a part of this venture, while questions still remain around the A23s and A25s. Just after 2am, things got exciting with a quick rub at Strider, followed almost immediately by another at Main Rubbing Beach. A third, very brief rub followed on Strider around 2:49am. Plenty of chuffs, calls and echolocation to keep our heroes on the night shifts awake!
The A34s continued calling through the morning while reports began placing Northern Residents farther east in Johnstone Strait. By late morning, the A62s – who had at some point separated from the rest of the A34s – were confirmed near Forward Bay, slowly westing along the Cracroft Island side. They spent much of the next few hours milling, changing direction and making very little progress while calls continued across Strider and Main Rubbing Beach.
And there were more familiar fins nearby! Around 2pm, Achiever confirmed the A42s at Adam River while the A62s continued west from Bush and the rest of the A34s remained farther east. With the orcas spread across a good stretch of the Strait, there was plenty to listen for.
By mid-afternoon, the A34s were spread along the Vancouver Island side while the A62s travelled along the Cracroft Island side and shortly before 4pm, more fins began appearing on our cameras heading towards the rubbing beaches.
At 4:19pm the A62s began rubbing at Main Rubbing Beach, filling the hydrophone with chuffs and echolocation. Apparently a rub at Main Rubbing Beach wasn’t enough as they continued towards Strider and started another rub at 4:35pm. For the next 12 very thrilling minutes we had chuffs, echolocation, and whales visible on camera, with PWDs jumping around with excitement. By 4:47pm, the A62s were on their way west again, hugging the Vancouver Island coast. Quite the afternoon!
Calls continued to drift between Critical Point and Strider into the evening, with whales later reported foraging around the Bight. As darkness settled in, the orcas, humpbacks, and PWDs all took turns across the hydrophones. By around 10pm, A34 and faint A5 calls were once again coming through Strider while a particularly vocal humpback carried on over Flower Island – a definite sign that the humpback season is just beginning.
Between familiar calls returning, the orcas making good use of the rubbing beaches, and plenty of company from humpbacks and dolphins, it was one of those days that was exciting right up until the end.
