With everyone gathered in the house, the orcas in Queen Charlotte Strait the grey, windy morning got under way. The A50s and the I4s moved into Weynton Pass and on into Johnstone Strait just after 11am. They travelled east toward Blackney Pass where the A50s separated and went north, the I4s continued east in Johnstone Strait, Mid afternoon, the I4s were deep in Robson Bight and the A50s were slowly moving along the edge of the archipelago.
The I4s went on to rub at Strider Beach from 3:43pm to 4:02pm. A quiet, deliberate affair, more reminiscent of ritual than a performance for pleasure. It ended with just a “trill” issued near the completion of the rub and just before I4 led her family quietly away to the east.
We took this time to look at their calls from the previous evening when they finally left off where I76s died and went to Blackfish Sound. Some of the calls were excited versions of commonly used calls and served to emphasize the gravity of their situation. They would soon connect with the A50s and others.
Before 10pm a very large group of Northern Residents, from all three clans, touched down on the Bere Point beaches, excitedly calling all the while. It has been a very long time since members of the clans had come together in this area and the news caused a ripple of excitement all the way to the Lab as the news was passed on down the line.
Finally, before midnight, came the first very faint calls of the A4s. The gathering was about to begin. Had they come to reassure the I4s, that despite their loss, life would continue within their enduring community.
