Distant calls audible. Summary for 18 July 2020 Orcas: A50s and A54s Today has been relatively quiet, with all of the orca activity happening overnight. Shortly after midnight, the silky silence was broken by clear, vibrant A30 calls in Blackney Pass! Given how loud the calls came in, we believe that they had passed us right out front of the lab, in from Blackfish Sound. We cannot say for certain whether this was the A50s or A54s (or both!), as the two groups were sighted later in the day. The orcas made their way down Johnstone Strait, drawing steadily closer to Robson Bight. We heard echolocation as they travelled. Around 3am, we were hearing close and distant A30 echolocation and calls in the Johnstone Strait. This likely means that the whales were separate from one another, spread out as they foraged. Shortly before 4am, the calls started getting more distant. We did not hear anything at the Main Rubbing Beach, and they remained very faint in the Johnstone Strait until 4:30am when we heard much clearer calls on Cracroft Point. A-ha! They had turned west and likely crossed back over the Strait to the Cracroft shore, given the intensity of their calls. We heard some beautiful calls as they travelled into Blackney Pass around 4:50am - just evading our gaze as the dawn had not yet begun! Their passing was brief, and we heard them in Blackfish Sound shortly after 5am. Not ten minutes later, a beautiful sunrise emerged from Harbledown Island bringing warmth to these beautiful calls. Unfortunately, a very loud speedboat engine entered the scene at around 5:17am, and the orcas appeared to fall silent. We heard only a few more distant calls until 5:36am, leaving only boat noise in the mix. That was it for orcas for the day! We received a report that the A50s and A54s were seen at the Foster Islands heading west at 3.30pm, but other than that it was very quiet. Megan and Quin went to run errands in town, Helena organized the wood store, Suzie sifted through lots of photos, and Paul worked more on our new local hydrophone - with the help of Matchu who came over from Double Bay. Matchu stayed for dinner, and we enjoyed spaghetti and salad on the deck so we could eat together whilst respecting social distancing rules. We are all taking care of one another as we enter the summer with this unseasonably small team, and look forward to sharing more updates with you as things progress. Update: Just as I reached the end of this summary, we started hearing faint A30 calls in Blackfish Sound at 10:54pm. Once again masked by unruly boat noise, but we know they are in there somewhere!  Suzie 18 Jul 2020 23:03:07 PDT Superb sounds!! Beautiful calls right now! OrcaLab 18 Jul 2020 05:13:44 PDT Distant calls audible. Listening to the A30s in Johnstone Strait through the night, now on a journey west toward Cracroft Point.  Orcalab 18 Jul 2020 04:39:37 PDT