Distant calls audible.

Right now we are listening to A1 (A12) calls off the east end of the Ecological Reserve. After the last of the I15s (the I16s) went north to join the other I15s, the A36s,the A12s and the I33s, the groups returned to Johnstone Strait by travelling south through Blackney Pass, starting around 10pm. By 1:17am the I15s were closing in on Robson Bight. The A12s and the A36s were heard as they slipped toward the east end of the Reserve by 3am. The I15s went in for a long rub starting at 3:37am and ending at 4:06am. From there they went back to the west. As the A12s and A36s lingered closer to the east end, the i15s were offshore of the Robson Bight area by 4:35am. The A12s and A36s eventually (5am) followed the i15s but they may have been closer to the Cracroft Island side. Some of the movement again turned east. At 7:35am, at least, the A12s had returned to the east end of the Reserve. The calls have since dropped & the morning foggy so we are waiting for other clues as to where all the groups may have ended up.
Helena
02 Sep 2009 08:21:45 PDT

No calls but orcas nearby

Around 10:30am the A36s were found mid strait heading west opposite the Cliff. A12 went by below the Cliff. The A36s and A12 (following) continued west along the Hanson Island shore after crossing closer to cracroft Point. The A34s, at around 11:30am passed right under the Cliff, in a playful tight group, on their way west, as well. Twenty minutes ago they were headed right into the "Pig Ranch" (the Cracroft Island shore just east of the Sophia Islands. There is also an unidentified group off Stimpson Reef.
Helena
02 Sep 2009 12:14:17 PDT

Distant calls audible.

The A12s and the A36s stayed off the entrance to Weynton Pass forever after their trip to the west this morning. Finally, they moved toward Cracroft point. This was at about the same time the I35s came up from the east. There were no I33s reported today so we think they went out to the west yesterday and that the I35s came in with the returning other groups. We did not hear the I15s after they came west from their 4am rub. After reaching the entrance to Blackney Pass and Cracroft Point, the A12s and the A36s lingered there for another long while. We occasionally heard resting calls from the I35s but they were difficult to track after they neared the area opposite Blackney Pass. The A12s and A36s have moved on again but we are not sure if they are following the last of the ebb or will wait for the flood tide that will begin soon.
Helena
02 Sep 2009 21:34:00 PDT