No calls but orcas nearby Well this has been an extraordinary day. Some of us had to run into town and so missed many of the movements until the afternoon. When we arrived back the A30s were mid channel (favouring the other side), pointing south in a group just about opposite the Lab. As we unpacked, cleaned a couple of fish, showed visitors around, the A30s were steadily being pushed back by the ebbing tide. This went on for a very long time. Eventually the A54s moved slightly ahead of the A50s but it was not long before the two groups reformed into a single unit again. Then just over an hour to the slack tide when the tide was going to move into flood, the A30s picked up the pace. It was now about 7:40pm. We heard a few calls and were startled to understand that the A5 calls in Johnstone Strait sounded like they were already closer to the Bight. Presumably, while the A30s were treading water in Blackney Pass, the A23s and A25s were heading east in Johnstone Strait toward the Bight (after they had doubled back through Blackney earlier). As the A23s/A25s approached the Bight, the A30s went through the last part of Blackney and into johnstone Strait. We were able to follow them on the cameras and Megan at CP reported at 8:42pm that she could see them heading east and angling toward Vancouver Island. The A23s/A25s were eventually found in the fading light off Robson Bight. By 8:46pm their calls were very close as they passed the eastern point of the Bight. The tide is in both groups favour now so we will have to wait to see what the rest of the evening tells us. OrcaLab 31 Aug 2017 23:14:19 PDT No calls but orcas nearby It's been a funny sort of day. The A30s and A23/25s continued west slowly for the rest of the morning, with the A30s (leading) eventually appearing at the southern entrance to Blackney Pass around noon, foraging. They began passing through in earnest at 12:50pm, and cleared north by 1:32pm. The A23/25s then followed, beginning a similar trip through at around 1:50pm, and clearing Blackney (north) by 2:15pm. Before we could catch a breath, A60 reappeared a few minutes later, with A61 and a handful of small fins in tow, now heading south! There were no calls. They (A23/25s) continued through but were certainly in no hurry, as they were only just clearing (south) on our Sea Lion Rock cam view at 3:50pm. Before that at 3:20pm we suddenly noticed the A30s had joined us, right in front of the lab, mid-channel. They had formed a beautiful resting line which has remained practically stationary until now. As the tide is ebbing, they have maintained their position by pointing south, and only in the last half an hour have begun to be pulled back north in the Pass. The A5s too, meanwhile, seemed to be traveling in leisurely fashion, and at 4:50pm had only just made it round Cracroft Point. Around 5pm they began slowly crossing over to Kaikash, and are still slowly easting. You can watch the progress of the A30s on the cameras below: http://explore.org/live-cams/player/orcalab-base https://explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-steller-sea-lion-haulout Max 31 Aug 2017 17:25:38 PDT No calls but orcas nearby The orcas came back from the east,had a rub at strider,made a short visit to the Bight and are now silently heading west in Johnstone Strait Hanna 31 Aug 2017 09:04:33 PDT No orcas present. Update from the night: since the A30s and A5s were last identified heading for the Strait via Blackney Pass, we have not heard calls from other groups. These As were, however, very vocal heading towards Critical Point, and could be heard socializing and echolocating in the Bight until about midnight. We have not heard anything since, but since the calls never became very distant again, we think this group may have headed east. The rest of the night has been quiet. Hopefully today will shed some light! Max 31 Aug 2017 05:49:02 PDT

Distant calls audible. The A23/A25s kept going to the east in the Strait. We received a report some orcas were almost at the Western Boundary at 3:43pm. At 4pm, we spotted them on our Robson Bight camera. They passed Critical Point and headed east. Marie reported that 3 orcas including one male passed the Rubbing Beaches at 5:01pm. At 4:49pm, we started hearing A30 and G-I calls from Blackfish Sound. The A30s and I15s came through Blackney Pass to the south. The I27s were in the lead, followed by the I4s and finally the A30s. We think that some of the I16s were travelling with the A30s also. We acoustically identified some of I31s in both the leading and tail groups, meaning that they were spread out amongst the other groups. At 6:43pm, they cleared our view in Blackney Pass. They then spent a couple of hours foraging and milling around the entrance to Blackney Pass, by Cracroft Point and in the Johnstone Strait. At this point, they were also joined by the A5s who we heard on our Critical Point hydrophone too. At 8.47pm, we began to hear louder calls coming into Blackney Pass from the south. They passed through fairly quickly. We identified the A30s, I31s and I15s from their calls (as it was a little too dark to see them by this point), and we believe the A5s travelled through also. The A30s and I31s were the closest to the lab, around mid-channel, with the other groups further afield. We continued to hear faint calls in Blackfish Sound, and at 9.08pm we started to hear calls coming back into Blackney from the north. We identified at least the A30s and some A5s, who travelled through the Pass and are currently vocal in the Johnstone Strait. We believe that they are now heading east. Phew!  Momoko & Suzie 30 Aug 2017 22:17:15 PDT Orcas near mics. A rather nice morning, we followed the reports of whales off Bold Head after we watched A61+ in the fog head north earlier. marie gave a report of seeing the T10s passing westward below the Cliff at 10:32am. Cp never saw them so it is a mystery as to where they got to. Meanwhile, we began to pick up calls at 11:06am in Blackfish Sound. They were distant but continuous until 12:24pm when they began to get stronger. At 1:03PM, A60 came into our view heading south very slowly, a saunter really. Eventually the rest of the A23s and probably A85 followed. Fife kept the lead and by 1:39pm he was off Parson Island "wall" with the rest of his family a bit further behind. As they all proceeded towards Johnstone Strait, A61 rushed in not far off the Hanson Island shore. He kept up a good pace and by 1:57pm everyone had cleared our view. We are still following their progress on the cameras (explore) and with our hydrophones (orca-live). They will soon be off CP! The Naiad Explorer is with the A30s and I15s who have so far remained in Queen Charlotte Strait now around the Penfold Island area. OrcaLab 30 Aug 2017 14:16:21 PDT No calls but orcas nearby We received a report that 3 orcas passed Boat Bay camp just before 7:20am, taking long dives. We think they were Bigg's orcas. At 8:20am, Max heard blows heading north in Blackney Pass. There were no calls at all initially. We were able to identify A61 in the fog. They then made a few calls on our Local Left hydrophone. A61 and one small fin headed into Blackfish Sound at 8:43am. Momoko & Karien 30 Aug 2017 09:40:11 PDT No orcas present. We heard few possible short calls between 11:54pm to 1:59am but couldn't locate where they came from. It's been rainy and quiet morning at the lab. Momoko & Karien 30 Aug 2017 06:47:57 PDT

Distant calls audible. We heard blows and calls at 10:54 pm in Blackney Pass. The orcas cleared north and moved west, as we heard them in Blackfish Sound. We could hear at least A30 calls, and the number of blows indicated all groups we have seen today were present. Lea and Max 29 Aug 2017 23:34:10 PDT No calls but orcas nearby What a busy day! After the previous update, distant I15 and I31 calls were heard on the Critical Point hydrophone from around 6:30pm, and at 6:56pm, distant A1 calls. We watched this group head into the Bight several minutes later. Only GI calls persisted for a while, along with some echolocation, but we believe some of the A23s/25s were here as an individual resembling A61 was seen on the Robson Bight camera at 7:06pm. At 7:30pm orcas came to the Rubbing Beach - at least a male & 2 small fins - but some stayed near the Bight (GI calls could be heard on Critical just minutes before their arrival). Those at the beach appeared to head east subsequently, but at least 2 turned back west, so this seems unlikely. At 7:59pm Marie reported 30+ individuals in a resting line, easting, 1/3 off Cracroft Island around the Swaine Point area, implying that most if not all groups had reassembled. At 8:25pm the group came close to CI, and turned west with about 150 PWDs. A30s made themselves known just before 9pm on Critical, and the most recent calls were GIs at 9:10pm. At 10pm Megan reported blows off CP, between the platform and Kaikash, so we are preparing for a stealthy attempt at Blackney Pass, just in case! Max 29 Aug 2017 22:45:32 PDT No calls but orcas nearby The A30s and I15s kept going west in the Strait. Some of them stopped at the entrance of Blackney Pass and had a bite to eat. Some orcas headed farther west, almost at Turn Point. At 4:10pm, some orcas (probably part of I15s) came into our view, moving against the flooding tide. This group immediately turned to the Strait and headed back to the east silently. We were following them on our Cracroft Point camera for a while. Some of them looked like crossing over to Vancouver Island side. Now we are waiting them to come into range of our Robson Bight camera and to make some noise! Momoko 29 Aug 2017 18:12:27 PDT Distant calls audible. Lots of action in the Strait today! The A1s and the A5s appeared to have traveled east in the Strait after our previous report. We followed the I15 and I31 groups since 10:52am when we received a report that there were orcas on the Vancouver Island of the Strait side heading east at little Kaikash. The I15 and I31 groups arrived and milled around Cracroft Point, mid-strait, until around 1:11pm. We think they began to travel east towards the Bight. We were expecting them on our Critical Point camera/hydrophone when we heard very loud echolocation and A30 calls! It sounded and looked like they had arrived from farther east down the Strait. Perhaps they had snuck into the rubbing beaches? Our suspicions were correct as we received a report from Eagle Eye that the orcas had been in for a rub at Strider beach from 12:29pm until 13:08pm. The A30's foraged briefly in the reserve and are now travelling west in the straight with the A5 groups nearby. We are currently hearing A30, A23/A25, I15 and I31 calls faintly on the Critical Point hydrophone. We will see what they do next! Dylan and Hanna 29 Aug 2017 14:49:17 PDT Distant calls audible. As the A30s and A23s/25s make their way west in the Strait (still just about audible on Critical Point), we have reports from Wayne of I51 and 3 babies heading east down Weynton towards them - this seems to be who we were hearing earlier in Blackfish Sound. There's some coordination going on, the exact nature of which we are not quite sure! Lea and Max 29 Aug 2017 10:03:56 PDT Superb sounds!! Sure enough, A1 and A5 calls can now be heard close on Critical Point, with lots of echolocation! Watch live here: https://explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-robson-bight Lea and Max 29 Aug 2017 09:25:59 PDT No orcas present. This morning we began hearing calls again at 6:40am, in Blackfish Sound. These were distant and intermittent, but G-clan calls could be made out (we believe I11 and/or I31 pods). These remained distant and were last heard at 6:55am. At 7:56am the A30s and A5s (A23s and A25s), who appeared to have traveled east in the night, came briefly into the Rubbing Beach. The light was stunning! They are now westing, so we are hoping to hear them soon in the Bight. Lea and Max 29 Aug 2017 08:42:00 PDT Orcas hunting fish. The orcas are in the Bight. Sounds like the A5s are in lead followed by the A30s. We are hearing their calls and echo location on our Critical Point hydrophone. Unfortunately there is a boat in the Strait. Momoko 29 Aug 2017 02:39:15 PDT Distant calls audible. Sounds like the A30s and A5s are slowly approaching to Robson Bight, against the ebbing tide. Momoko 29 Aug 2017 01:56:53 PDT