Superb sounds!! A30s approaching Strider Rubbing beach. They sound excited! Check it out here: https://www.explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Gloria 29 Aug 2020 14:22:50 PDT No orcas present. We are watching the most beautiful sunrise at the Stider rubbing beach as we await patiently the return of the whales that headed east last night! Watch live at Explore.org: https://www.explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Orcalab  29 Aug 2020 07:06:49 PDT No orcas present. August 28 2020: A50s, A54s, C6s, C10s, C31, D9, D13s (D19), D11s, Rs and others, Humpbacks, PWD, Uni Here was a “daytime beginning”. The night had been pretty uneventful. The A30s had gone to the east. The whales lurking to the far west had retreated. Dolphins began the show at 7:54am. They were on the Kaizumi hydrophone but not close and very soon the A30s were heard on this same hydrophone, also quite distant. We are on a seemingly endless quest to determine the range of the new hydrophones. The old ones are a challenge too as we figure out the overlapping ranges and get comfortable interpreting what is going on. This morning was no exception. We have pretty much figured out that the new Kaizumi hydrophone reaches quite far to the east, way past Boat Bay, with a bias for the Cracroft Island side. So when we heard these distant A30 calls on Kaizumi we alerted the camp at Boat Bay to expect orcas passing soon. At 8:27am, there were calls on both the Kaizumi and Main Rubbing Beach hydrophones. This prompted a scan with the Main Rubbing Beach camera. Zooming in to the east yielded a look at a large group of dolphins heading east quickly mid strait. What were they in such a rush for? The answer came 5 minutes later when orca were spotted coming west. The orcas angled toward the shore on the Vancouver Island side, some of the dolphins came with them. Barely touching the beach the orcas carried on to the west and soon appeared on the Strider camera where they performed in much the same perfunctory way. We surmised that these were the A54s. A short while later, the Wardens, on the other side of the Strait, reported that the A50s (the other half of the A30s) were travelling west too and closer to the Cracroft Island side. These then would have been the whales we heard on the Kaizumi hydrophone and the ones on the Main Rubbing Beach hydrophone, were the A54s. We are learning! In the mood of the morning the A54s only briefly rubbed at Kaizumi Beach west at 10:50am. The A50s were still keeping up with them on the opposite shore. From Kaizumi, the A54s headed toward Cracroft Point. The A50s, surrounded by dolphins, likewise. But this is where it got interesting. The A54s prepared themselves to come into Blackney Pass but the A50s turned east momentarily at 11:39am. Making deep dives they turned west again and then back east. They could not shake the dolphins. As the A54s proceeded into Blackney Pass at 12:18pm, the A50s made one final turn in earnest. They formed a resting line between Cracroft Point and the Sophia Islands before continuing east in the direction of Kaizumi and the Western Boundary sign of the Ecological Reserve. But stop the presses! Our beloved seagull, Uni, returned! Pippa who was on shift in the Lab, noticed this Glaucous gull eating urchins on the rocks. She made a note and casually mentioned to Megan what she saw. Megan knew immediately that this could only be Uni! We all came to have a look and unabashedly cheer. Uni has been coming to the Lab for around 30 years each summer, arriving late August,and remaining through the winter into the early Spring. She has particular habits which make her stand out among the other birds (actually she prohibits other gulls from occupying her special rocks). She is the only gull we have seen to make a regular habit of cruising the kelp beds for green urchins which she then plucks and carries to shore. She was still wearring her breeding colours of mostly white. Just as we were admiring Uni, word came from Dylan of a very large group of orcas (several different families) incoming from the Port Hardy airport area spread to the western end of Malcolm Island. The rumours must have reached the A30s. At 1:11pm the A54s came northbound through Blackney Pass. They were all together and silent until just before they reached Blackfish Sound at 1:32pm. The A50s still moving east were now opposite the Western Boundary. The A54s, despite heavy boat noise, kept calling, loud and clear. They became quite excited at 1:58pm. As they moved forward their calls became more distant for us and then stopped altogether at 2:21pm. This is when the A50s turned and began to retrace their steps. By now we were getting an inkling of who were “out west”. Dylan, in his research boat the Pinnegar, was with the C10s, C6s and Ds. The Vancouver Aquarium boat doing the drone study on the condition of the Northern Residents was with R clan groups about 4 miles from Malcolm Island, and the UBC research boat the Gikumi was with others at Malcolm Point. At 2:48pm, we could hear the A54s once again. The lead incoming groups, the Cs and Ds, were near Bere Point. Kate mentioned a brief rub with others offshore headed east. The A54s became excited again at 3pm just as the Cs and Ds approached Lizard Point. The two groups would have been in acoustic range of each other by now. The A54s then stopped calling at 3:22pm as the A50s (still in the Strait) crossed to Cracroft Point. Doing 6 knots the Cs and Ds carried on from Lizard Point. You could just sense the excitement of these whales as they drew nearer and nearer. At 3:41pm, the A50s turned into Blackney Pass. The Cs and Ds were just 2.5 km from Donegal Head. Between 4:07 and 4:17pm we watched the A50s travel fast through Blackney. Still taking deep dives they covered a lot of “ground” in very quick order. Not to be outdone, a large (probably the same large group as this morning) of dolphins rushed into Blackney Pass at 4:21pm. They followed the wake of the whale watch boat, the Mayumi, through the Pass. The big meeting of the orcas occurred just before 5pm off of Stubbs Island. We knew then that the whales, after their greetings were done, would probably go through to Johnstone Strait via Weynton Pass. Our excited anticipation subsided. The chances of seeing the new groups was slim. But what of the others further west. Apparently they turned around just not ready to come all the way to the Strait. Perhaps the Cs and Ds were tuckered out from their long journey, perhaps the A30s were exhausted from their encounters with the dolphins, but whatever the reasons, the whales when they reached Johnstone Strait were not very vocal. Heading eastward, some closer to Hanson Island, the lead D/C group had a good rub at Kaizumi at 6:54pm. At 7:21pm, Jenn noticed, in the diminishing light, a very large group lined up along the Vancouver Island shore. From the number of males we guessed that this was at least the C6s. This was practically our only look at these whales. Later we saw a few fins belonging to the Ds eastbound from the Main Rubbing Beach. We figured the C10s, who we heard briefly in the distance, were following. Dylan had mentioned earlier that as the whales entered the Strait that the C6s were the trailing group in company with the A30s. We did not hear any A30 calls during the whole time whales were moving east. We still have not heard them and it is now past midnight (August 29). The vague, sometimes distance calls of both orcas and dolphins continued past 11pm. The calls by then seemed to be coming from somewhere east of the Ecological Reserve. Tomorrow will probably bring more clarity and perhaps even those other families in for a visit.  OrcaLab 29 Aug 2020 01:32:27 PDT