Superb sounds!! Amazing A4 calls right now in Blackfish Sound! Suzie 28 Jul 2020 23:55:52 PDT Superb sounds!! Summary for July 28th 2020 Orcas: A50s, A54s and A4s(?) The A30’s calls perforated the inky blackness several times through the night, as they made their way through Johnstone Strait. Interestingly, we first heard them at 10am on our Rubbing Beach hydrophone, which means they had travelled through from Blackney Pass totally undetected in just a couple of hours. They slowly made their way east, foraging in Robson Bight just after midnight, taking their time until they got to Kazumi Rubbing Beach at 6:32am. For the next half an hour, we heard some lovely close and excited calls, and even captured some rubbing sounds as the daylight spilled over the horizon. They crossed Johnstone Strait and milled off Cracroft Point at around 7:30am, and it looked like they were coming into Blackney Pass as we saw on our remote CP camera. They must have changed their minds, however, and decided that their morning was better spent back east. By 9:24am they were visible around Robson Bight again, and the Cliff on Cracroft Island confirmed the presence of both A50 and A54 matrilines. After a swift bite to eat, they passed Critical Point heading east just before 11am, and we prepped ourselves at Strider Rubbing Beach camera. They would only be a few minutes, if they were coming in to rub! Sure enough, the first few individuals came into view mere minutes later, and began their morning pebble rub. We captured their calls on our Main Rubbing Beach hydrophone, and for the third day this week we had over an hour of beautiful orca action on our camera! Both matrilines were present at the rubbing beaches, and they went back and forth, back and forth along one stretch of beach where (perhaps) the best pebbles lie. We reached over 400 viewers on our live camera through Explore.org - this is a record! We were so thrilled to be broadcasting the event to that many people. Sharing the lives of these orcas without inhibiting them is at the heart of everything we do, and this was a really special moment. After their Strider sojourn, the A30s headed back west at 12:10pm, and continued on that trajectory, foraging through Robson Bight as they went. We heard loud, excited calls once more around Kazumi Rubbing Beach at 1.30pm. At this time, Janie and her lovely dog Cohen left the lab as they prepare to head up to Fin Island, escorted by Megan and Quin on the boat. Suzie was left alone at the lab and prepared for a manic afternoon of orcas coming into Blackney Pass, where one has to be simultaneously outside taking photos, and inside annotating calls and controlling our live cams… As it happened, it was a rather anticlimactic afternoon for Suzie, as the A30s fell pretty much silent as they headed west or milled out of range in Johnstone Strait. At 3.30pm we did receive a report of “whales galore” in Mitchell Bay on Malcom Island, but we are yet to receive any ID’s or subsequent whereabouts of these orcas. (If anyone has any further information, do pass it on!) Just as Quin and Megan returned to the lab, the A30s began calling once more at 5:57pm, distant off Cracroft Point. Typical! They made their way east yet again, calling and echolocating as they reached Robson Bight and passed our hydrophone at 7:09pm. So began the second rub of the day! These A30s certainly know what they like. They rubbed back and forth between the beaches, and we even saw a glimpse of two orcas (and a sea lion!) on our underwater camera at the main beach at 7:39pm. After this brief and seemingly more relaxing rubbing session, the A30s headed back to the west where we tracked their calls back to Kazumi Rubbing Beach around 9:51pm. Their calls dwindled, but we did hear some A4-sounding calls loud through one of our hydrophones around 10:21pm. Unfortunately we were not in the lab at the time, and they made only one brief bout of calls. We will have to listen back to it and see if we can glean a bit more information. The A30s have just started calling on Kazumi Rubbing Beach again at 11:39pm. We also currently have faint echolocation and orca-ish “squarks” in Blackfish Sound. We await a distinct call to give us more of a clue! Suzie 28 Jul 2020 23:42:32 PDT Superb sounds!! Lovely calls and orcas on Strider cam! https://www.explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Orcalab 28 Jul 2020 19:36:17 PDT No calls but orcas nearby Orcas approaching Strider Rubbing Beach! https://www.explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Orcalab 28 Jul 2020 11:06:51 PDT