No orcas present. August 15 2020: A50s, A54s, A23s, A25s, A35s, A73s, A56, I04s,I16s, I27s, Humpbacks, Pacific Whitesided Dolphins. If you read yesterday’s account do you remember how we mentioned how carefree the whales seemed? How they breached and cavorted their way to the rubbing beaches where they played some more? Something was up for sure. Well today we found out what. Through the early hours of the night the whales were generally eastbound. At 12:40am the A30s were off Kaizumi Beach. They were excited as they moved toward Robson Bight. The A5s were there too. As they approached the eastern headland (Critical Point) we could hear echo location as well as clear calls. By 2:51am the calls began to biome fainter as they passed beyond the hydrophone. They may have moved offshore to mid strait because from 3:33am to 4:46am the calls were only faint in strength while heard both on the Main Rubbing Beach system and the Kaizumi Beach system simultaneously. This situation carried on right to 5:15am. After a substantial break during which there were no further calls the whales were unexpectedly seen heading east just off the corner of the Main Rubbing Beach. They didn’t come in for a rub but instead moved offshore out to the middle. Was this what they had done earlier? It looked like at least some, if not all the A30s and the A23s, the two groups who had been together the day before. Further “up” the Strait” at 8:54am Megan observed the A25s lingering off the area in front of Cracroft Point where they foraged, milled, and paced. At one point they even looked like they were headed for Blackney Pass. Not so but they may have been keeping an ear out for just a short while later we became aware of A4 calls in Blackfish Sound! Ah, so that was it, a new arrival. For days the scene had involved only the A30s, the A23s and the A25s. They were constant companions travelling in and around the area, enjoying the beaches, hunting for food. Like any gathering of friends or family there is always the elements of anticipation, of excitement, of joy to be back together again. We can probably remember, in these strange times, what that is like. By 9:35am the A35s were in view and headed quickly toward Johnstone Strait. The remote cameras followed their progress nicely. Once reaching the Strait they carried on making a gradual bid for the Vancouver Island shore diagonally eastward from Cracroft Point. There was a lovely moment when Springer (A73) emerged from Blackney Pass. The A25s were still there waiting. They made a call and Springer and her little ones turned back momentarily. Then it was off to the east after the others. The A25s not far away. It is worth mentioning Springer’s special relationship with the A25s. It was Surge’s sister, Nodales (A51) who first took Springer under her wing in the days after her release. It was Nodales who physically intervened between Springer and the boats she was flirting with and by doing so helped cure Springer of this dangerous habit. So as the groups went east, don’t forget the A30s and the A23s were further east from the incoming whales, we heard G clan calls on Flower Island at 11:04am. It was the I15s. Boy, this was shaping up to be a real orca summer day! We later heard from Jared that he had a report of 60+ Northern Resident orcas off Nootka Sound. As other G clan whales have shown that they like the west coast Jared surmised that they were the ones probably there. It was not even Noon yet but the day was beginning to become complicated. As Springer made it into the Reserve at 11:28am (thanks Dylan for that info) the I15 were beginning to move through Blackfish Sound headed for Blackney Pass. They came into our view at 11:36am. Just over 10 minutes later they were out of sight and about to join the other orcas in the Strait. We definitely saw the I4s and the I27s but less sure about the I16s. At 12:14pm, the A30s and the A23s became vocal on the Main Rubbing Beach system still somewhere offshore of the Reserve ready to join the new arrivals at Strider. Both A61 and A60 were seen just before the A4s arrived. There were a lot of Pacific Whitesisded Dolphins there too. It is anyone’s guess what they were up to, They seemed to be all over the orcas. Perhaps as a consequence some of the orcas went east from Strider while others turned to the west and moved offshore. These orcas regrouped and turned back to Strider. From 12:51pm to 1:30pm the A35s and A73s rubbed at Strider. Meanwhile the Cliff reported seeing a group of 15 and another group of 5 in front of them resting. This may have been the I15s who were definitely under reported! After the rub ended at 1:30pm the A4s formed their own resting line and went west. They could still be seen westing (blows) at 1:44pm. By this time someone else had arrived at the Bight. Everyone was now on a journey to the west. Just before 2pm Megan could see them advancing away from Critical Point and toward her, still some distance away but the ocean all day had been flat calm with gorgeous light ever since the fog had lifted earlier in the morning. One stop on the way was Kaizumi Beach of course and the I15s and the A30s were drawn in for several minutes. Up a little further and the spread out groups were both mid strait and on the Vancouver Island shore. Megan noted A72 off Kaikash Beach opposite at 2:46pm. Before 3pm some of the whales crossed the entrance to Blackney Pass and kept closer to the Hanson Island shore. The westward progression continued past 5pm. At 5:47pm Megan reported that they had turned. They were spread out again from shore to shore. By 6:13pm they were opposite Little Kaikash. Some telltale calls on the Parson Island system at 6:30pm suggested they were approaching the entrance to Blackney Pass. Such a large diverse group of orcas takes a while to organise. There was excitement in the air on the decision to head for Blackney proper. Breaches and tail slaps. The evening sunset glare was a challenge but it was finally determined that the whales had made up their minds and organised themselves enough to come through. Leading the groups were the A30s followed by the I15s, the A5s (the A23s and A25s) and finally the A4s (the A35s and A73s). Travel to Blackfish Sound was fast and accompanied by great calls unfortunately buried at times in boat noise from a large whatever transiting north. The promise of quieter times in these days of Covid not realised. But don’t want to end there. The night is not quite over and the excited whales are off to somewhere else hopefully enjoying each other and their ocean home. The arrival of Springer back in the area encouraged the renovation of her sign :Welcome Home Springer” which has had a pride of place on the face of the Lab ever since she was released back to her home waters in 2002. We found some of the original acrylic paints from the “Free Corky Banner” days and surprisingly still useful. The sign, usually repainted once a year, includes Springer’s first born, Spirit, and will soon show baby Storm as well. Will she notice? Helena 15 Aug 2020 21:56:27 PDT Superb sounds!! I15s and A30s together at Kaizumi Rubbing beach, Lovely calls, lovely rub! Orcalab 15 Aug 2020 14:40:40 PDT