No orcas present. Summary for September 6th, 2019. T109Bs, T109Cs. After a spectacular Thursday evening we were met with a relatively quiet day at the lab. The surreal encounter with A61, A85 and her newborn calf passing the lab yesterday evening will be a highlight we will all remember for years to come. In what seemed like a ceremonial procession, the A25s had lead their new family member through the waters of Blackney Pass and into Johnstone Strait, followed not too far behind by the A30s, I35s, and G27s. We pick up where our last summary ended: the lead I15 groups continued to call from the reserve as we were able to hear them echolocating until shortly after 9:30pm. Not long after the I15s became quiet we picked up A30s calls on the Cracroft Point hydrophone as well as distant A30 calls on the Robson Bight hydrophone at 9:59pm. Perhaps the A50s and A54s had altered pace? All would become clear, as at 10:10pm Shari at “CP” reported the orcas were now mid Strait, and it seemed as though a decision was made to turn back to the North with the ebbing tide. By 10:24 we could once again hear calls on the Parson Island hydrophone and at 10:31pm we could still hear some final calls at “CP”. The orcas began to quiet down as they made their way back through Blackney Pass. We were able to track them by their blows as they travelled north in front of the lab. 5 blows? 20 now? Perhaps another group of 5 blows? Very quickly they proceeded along and by 11:18pm all of the orcas had cleared the “view” of the lab. We suspect all of the groups that had come through earlier in the evening had gone back to the North. Did the I15s remain to the east? The only other hint we received was at 11:21pm when we picked up very clear A5 calls on the Flower Island hydrophone before all went silent once more. The silence was a sign to come as the rest of the night was filled with the noise of passing tugs and slow moving ships. The next morning came and went with the fog with no calls or reports of orcas to be heard. We enjoyed the company of several humpbacks milling about, back and forth between Blackfish Sound and Blackney Pass. We even had several friendly Harbour seals at the base of the Lab’s deck, swimming amongst the kelp. Finally at 2:38pm we received some news of approximately 12 orcas heading east near Hyde Creek. We followed their progress throughout the day and by 4:26pm they had reached Beaver Cove and were identified as several groups of Biggs! It seems as if there were three small groups all travelling together up until that point. By 5:29pm a small split occurred as the Ocean Magic 2 reported a group of four unidentified Bigg’s near the top end of Blackfish Sound, while at 5:49pm Jared Towers was able to ID the T109Bs and T109Cs easting past the Wastell Islets on the Vancouver Island side of the Strait. By approximately 7:40pm we had 7 Bigg’s orcas passing by the Robson Bight Camera and continuing east down the Strait, presumably the T109Bs and Cs. We finished our evening with a dinner by the fire in celebration of the newborn member of the A25 family. Although our day was quieter than usual, it allowed for some reflection and even some catch up on some daily duties. We are left to wonder where the orcas from the previous evening ended up and when we will hear word of them next. Every day there is something engaging to be a part of, what will tomorrow bring? OrcaLab 06 Sep 2019 22:54:57 PDT