Multiple pod calls audible. What an eventful day! As late evening turned into night, there were consistent I15 calls in the Bight and A5 calls on Cracroft Point. Occasionally, calls in Johnstone Strait echoed to Parson Island, but the orca appeared to have no interest in traveling north through Blackney Pass. After midnight, the calls became more sporadic and distant until around 3:00am when the calls became clearer and a bit louder on Cracroft Point. At this point we could hear the distinctive I15 calls but so sounds from the A5s. They moved slowly further to the west in the strait towards Weynton Passage where we last heard them around 4:30am. The night was not over yet as when the orcas were out of reach of our hydrophones a humpback started to sing in Blackfish Sound. Sadly his song was overshadowed with a lot of boat noise. He eventually stopped singing just before 6am. After a spell of stillness, calls came in on the Parson Island hydrophone at 7:22am. This time, only G clan calls were present. We assumed that this was the I15s, until we began to hear some very well delivered “pings”, so there was a thought it could be possibly the I35s or I31s. Not long after consistent calls on Parson Island; the whales began to move north through Blackney Pass and calls were heard on our local hydrophone. Quin was outside on the deck listening for blows as the fog was very dense. The whales appeared to make it halfway through the Pass in two groups; before stalling then eventually turning back to the south. They weren't fighting the tide, so we wondered if they might be waiting for the A42s who hadn’t been heard since around 10:30pm the night before on Cracroft Point. By 9:28am, the G clan whales had made it back into the strait and faint sporadic calls were heard at Cracroft Point. By this time the fog had begun to lift, but we were unable to locate them on the cameras. By 10:14am the calls had become so distant we assumed the whales had traveled to the west towards Weynton passage. But still no sign of the A42s. At 10:30am we heard a report which surprised us a little - there were orcas heading north in Blackney Pass between Whitebeach Passage and Swanson Island, hugging the Swanson shore. If this were the same group of whales we had just heard in Blackney Pass, then it means they must have changed directions yet again and headed back north, right in front of us! They were completely silent and our view was clouded in fog, so they slipped past unnoticed. At 10:35am our suspicions were confirmed when we heard a ping and calls similar to those we had heard an hour previously, and a little while later a report over the radio confirmed that these whales were the I35s. We continued to hear their dwindling calls in Blackfish Sound until midday, when we heard them no more. Interestingly, a little later we received a report that this same group was still very close by, just southwest of Stubbs Island at the northern part of Weynton Passage, milling. They were just out of our earshot - but what were they doing? Were they waiting for someone else? At 1:06pm all became clear. We heard no calls but suddenly a strange bubbling and grinding sound was coming over the hydrophone - the sound of rubbing! We all scrambled to our stations and found a group of seven orcas on the surface rubbing beach camera, headed west close to the Vancouver Island shore. We rewound the underwater camera on explore.org and - success! - we found the most beautiful scene. Seven orcas in close succession including a baby and a big male had come in for a rub. Now, at this point, we were all fairly certain that this must be the A42s, whose return from the east has been much anticipated. With seven whales, including a baby and a big male, in their group: it was a nice fit. However, at 1:29pm, the westing orcas sounded on our critical point hydrophone, echolocating and calling. But wait - these were I15 calls! A few minutes later at 1:32pm we heard A5 calls which confirmed our suspicion that the A42s were present. So although we cannot say with absolute certainty that it was the whole A42 family rubbing, given that they were the only group we saw at the rubbing beach and they arrived into Robson Bight behind the I15s; we are happy to make a well-informed assumption. The calls continued in Robson Bight as the orcas travelled west, foraging as they went. At 3:06pm we began to hear them on Cracroft Point, confirming that they were still traveling west through Johnstone Strait. The orca were quite quiet as they made their way towards Blackney Pass, but by 3:22pm they had entered the pass going north! Once they entered Blackney, this large group of residents were very vocal and chatty - even amidst loud boat noise. We heard expressive and excited I15 and A5 calls from this group on both our local Flower Island hydrophones. Our outside team identified members of the I4s, I27s, A42s and I16s boosting north. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon with perfect visibility and little boat traffic. A rare September treat! After clearing the Pass to the north, they continued to be vocal in Blackfish Sound until 5:27pm. Suddenly, at 5:29pm, we began hearing calls on our Cracroft Point hydrophone, indicating that the leaders of this group had taken Weynton Pass and were already back in the Johnstone Strait. It seems that the group was either very spread out or had split up; because at 5:56pm there were calls in the Blackfish Sound once again. We stopped hearing any calls just after 6pm. Where had they ended up? They do like to keep us on our toes! Just before 7pm, an exciting report came from Larry at the Sophias, who is fairly certain that he saw a grey whale heading west in Johnstone Strait. They have a distinctive double spout and heart-shaped blow. Unfortunately, we didn’t hear anything on our hydrophones to confirm it acoustically. Just after 7pm, we picked up distant calls on both Cracraft Point and Robson Bight hydrophones. We could hear A5 and Gclan calls over both hydrophones, which means that the groups were pretty spread out between the reserve and the entrance of Blackney Pass at that point. After 8:15pm we could only hear the orcas on the hydrophone in the Robson Bight, so either all orcas had moved east (or were staying silent!). The calls remained distant for a long time. What would they do as the night rolled in?  Orcalab 21 Sep 2019 10:58:00 PDT