As the full moon rises over Blackney Pass a humpback has started singing on Parson Island!  Megan and Helena  30 Sep 2020 19:38:38 PDT

September 29 2020: A23s,A25s, [unidentified BiggÕs], Humpbacks: Argonaut, Stitch and others, Pacific White-sided dolphins, Sea Lions, Seals Picking up where we left off yesterday, there was more to the evening. At 11:11pm we heard the A5s pass over the beach at Strider. They were headed east. They did not call but there was some echolocation within Robson Bight soon after at 11:43pm and a faint call at 11:48pm. Throughout this orca tracking, the humpbacks took up their refrains in the Blackfish/Blackney area. The one in Blackfish sang out loudly at 11:12pm. Then at 11:42pm it sounded for all the world like two humpbacks in Blackfish and another on Parson Island. This is quite a jump in simultaneous ÒsingersÓ. We know Argonaut has been around and being male could account for some of this effort. Two more males? That would be exciting! By contrast, the A5s continued to call and echolocate in a very low keyed manner through the early hours. The combination of the exercised humpbacks and the indifferent orcas was enough to keep Megan H up for most of the night. Even strong, loud boat noise did not seem to deter the humpback in Blackney Pass. This was surprisingly similar to the previous evening. Normally, boat noise seems to disrupt the humpbacks and they grow quiet. Not so for this fellow! The orcas quit at 1:12am while very bad boat noise continued. The humpback resumed at 1:49am then stopped at 2:10am. He might have moved to Blackfish Sound, or there was another humpback who did the honour at 3:50am. The A5s were heard again at 6:10am. They may have been heading west at this point. Dolphins were also out in the foggy Strait. Scott found the A23s/A25s heading east at 9:46am near Blinkhorn Peninsula which is east of Telegraph Cove. So obviously the A5s had a busy night too but true to recent form they did so with very little calling. Scott reported that they were angling toward Cracroft Point. An hour later they were in Blackney Pass heading north. Megan M said it was by luck that she saw them as the fog bank was thick halfway across the Pass with the far side pretty much obscured. She had been taking pictures of a seal who was skirting the shoreline as if looking for a place to rest. Looking at the pictures later it looks like she might have been heavily pregnant. Was this her time? The orcas, meanwhile, obliged by travelling just this side of the fog line. The A23s were together and in the lead. The A25s followed. As the A23s neared the end of the Pass, where it runs into Blackfish Sound, the groupÕs large male, A60, began to slap his tail on the water several times. There were no dolphins at this time which was a surprise because they had lately been around A85 and her baby, A121, persistently. However, there were at least three humpbacks which the orcas had to navigate around. Argonaut had paired up with Stitch, an adult female. By 10:50am, the A23s cleared our view and entered Blackfish Sound and by 11:15am the A25s did so too. They made a few perfunctory calls and echolocation to 12:15pm. Obviously they were not in any particular hurry with the current against them. A couple of hours later, just after 2pm, they came back. By now there wasnÕt any fog. They were through and out of our view quite quickly. There were dolphins in the entrance way to Blackney Pass along with numerous sea lions in the water. They returned quietly to Johnstone Strait where we lost track of them until we heard them starting at 6:39pm. The calls were not strong and offered no clear impression as to where they might be. By nightfall, we were still no wiser but we had a beautiful full voiced humpback from 8:16 to 8:45pm to draw our attention to Blackfish Sound. Really quite spectacular! We will finish by saying it was a pretty good day: Two passings by the A5s, great humpback calls, lots of sea lions, an interesting seal or two, sunny warm weather after the fog, and good companionship from everyone here and those at a distance but still in touch. Ah, yet another humpback, again in Blackfish, is going to close off the day.   OrcaLab 29 Sep 2020 23:10:29 PDT Superb sounds!! Humpback in Blackfish! Pretty neat! OrcaLab 29 Sep 2020 23:08:33 PDT Beautiful Humpback song on Flower Island. Listen live!  Megan 29 Sep 2020 20:20:27 PDT Orcas approaching Orcalab. 23s and 25s in Blackney Pass on the Main Cam at the moment, come and follow them https://www.explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Jennifer 29 Sep 2020 14:04:47 PDT Humpback singing on Parson Island, Listen live now!  Megan  29 Sep 2020 00:07:07 PDT

September 27 & 28 2020: A23s, A25s, Humpbacks: Argonaut, Pacific White-sided dolphins, Sea lions, seals. September 27 was remarkable for how uneventful it was. At 6:22am we began to record a humpback in Blackfish Sound. The calls lasted until 8:22am. The rest of the day was spent dodging the rain, watching the many sea lions hauled out and trying to ID the humpbacks in the Pass. With regard to the sea lions, it now looks as if the females, young juveniles and babies have joined the adult males on the local haul out rocks. These rocks on Hanson Island are not the only place the sea lions haul out during the winter. There is quite a large contingent in the Plumper Islands as well. Our count is nearing 50 -100 on a regular basis. That makes for a lot of growls and jostling for space. September 28 had a bit more jump. Not only did the weather slowly begin to improve we were kept busy for longer hours through the night. Just before 1am a humpback began singing in Blackfish Sound. He stopped disappointingly a few minutes later. A few hours later at 4:21am a humpback struck up the band once more and gave a longer performance. The calls lasted until just before 5am. The rest of the morning came and went. While outside fixing the deck speaker and watching a humpback out of the corner of her eye, Helena heard A5 calls at 10:29am. The calls were in Blackfish Sound. The orcas must be on their way back! We had concluded a couple of days ago that the A23s/A25s had gone west in Johnstone Strait and most likely left the area via Weynton Pass. All this based on some very faint calls from 11:30pm on the 25th to 12:16am on the 26th and realising that it had been possible to follow the more expressive dolphins westward as they presumably accompanied the orcas. The dolphins have recently been quite persistent following the orcas, especially A85 and young year old baby, A121 so it was not a far fetched assumption. Back to the 28th, the A5s continued to call until 10:47am and then went quiet. This led to the thought that they had decided to go into the Strait via Weynton Pass. But an hour later we saw them heading south! They were travelling pretty fast, that is until they reached Parson Island, just after the Light, where they stopped, turned and milled about for a short while. The current was in full flood so eventually they carried on through the rest of the Pass. As the A25s have been their constant companions through September we waited for the proverbial shoe to drop. Sure enough ten minutes after the A23s cleared our view came the A25s (11:58am). They too were in a hurry and wasted no time ÒrunningÓ through the Pass. And you guessed it, A85 and A121 were surrounded by dolphins once again. The A23s had let out a few short calls just after they disappeared from view and so did the A25s. During the time following they were quiet. We indulged in thinking that both groups carried on to the Strait and went east. We were hampered by not having a remote camera at Cracroft Point to watch the scene in Johnstone Strait. Regardless, we picked up their trail acoustically at 1pm when someone went in for a short rub at Kaizumi Beach. From Kaizumi they headed to Robson Bight. Jenn could see them advancing eastward on the remote camera at Critical Point, Robson Bight. By 2:10pm, A61 was near that eastern headland of the Bight. With some very loud echolocation he and A85/A121 passed out of camera view by 2:19pm. Interesting that the A25s had now taken the lead, the reverse of earlier in the day. Both groups headed for Strider Beach. The rub there for the A23s began at 2:37pm and for the A25s at 2:40pm. Of course the dolphins were there as well. It was a short rub that was over after just a few minutes. The orcas then came into view of the Main Beach remote camera. They were milling offshore and did not go into Main for a rub but headed back to Strider to start another rub at 3:12pm. From there, after this rub, they headed offshore and made a wide circle toward Cracroft Island where they turned and went east. We lost sight of them at 4:15pm. Megan (HB) got home after braving the winds off Alert Bay. With various things to do in town her stay got extended by circumstance. It was great to have her back. As she nudged the Sonic in, a huge male sea lion stretched out his neck, curious to see what she was up to. Argonaut, the humpback, was in Blackney Pass with others for most of the day. Tempting to think it was Argonaut who began singing at 5:43pm in Blackfish Sound. During the recorded session, which lasted until, well until forever actually, this humpback made really clear calls, then fainter ones after retreating away from the hydrophone, and more after shifting from Blackfish to Blackney at 8:09pm. He eventually went quiet but we could still hear him move around not far from the hydrophone at 9:02pm. Then at 9:34pm he began to sing again. Even an approaching tug with its loud boat noise did not deter his efforts at first. He continued to sound quite loud. As the tug drew parallel to Parson Island the humpback finally quit and did not fully resume properly afterwards. This day is pretty much done but donÕt think the humpback is, fairly sure there will be more.  OrcaLab 28 Sep 2020 22:27:40 PDT Orcas rubbing on the shore bottom. A23s and A25s approaching Strider Rubbing Beach follow them https://www.explore.org/liv.... OrcaLab 28 Sep 2020 14:46:01 PDT Orcas rubbing on the shore bottom. A23s and A25s approaching Strider Rubbing Beach follow them https://www.explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Jennifer 28 Sep 2020 14:37:12 PDT Orcas approaching Orcalab. A23s are now in Blackfish Sound heading to Blackney Pass, come and follow them https://www.explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base   Jennifer 28 Sep 2020 11:44:02 PDT

Superb sounds!! Humpback (s) in Blackfish Sound making some lovely calls. OrcaLab 27 Sep 2020 06:44:08 PDT

September 26 2020: ÒAsÓ, Humpbacks, PWD, Sea Lions Our day really started at the end of the last. We had been surprised into sudden awareness of rubbing at Strider Beach. What followed were some distant, nondescript calls and some more Pacific White-sided dolphin chatter. The orca calls were on just one station (except for the rub) and always distant. Near to impossible to tell accurately who was out there. The dolphins strangely enough were easier to track westward. They began on the Strider and Main hydrophones at 12:13am and moved west to the Critical Point station by 12:34am. This is the station where the orcas were heard. It was a straight forward progression for the dolphins to Kaizumi Beach hydrophone at 1:08am. Twenty minutes later we heard them even further west off Cracroft Point. They were not close to the hydrophone so probably favouring mid strait or the other side. At 1:36am they were opposite the entrance to Blackney Pass and that is where their trail became cold. A humpback had made his presence known in the same area just before. The rest of the night was quiet. The morning and the rest of the entire day belonged to the humpbacks. Starting at 6:38am an individual began to ÒsingÓ in Blackfish Sound and lasted until 7am. At 11:50am there was a gathering of humpbacks in the Pass. Megan McKenzie observed the scene of the very active whales, unfortunately on the far side. One of these days the humpbacks will finally come closer to our side! Megan took photos and we are in the process of trying to figure out who was there. Someone became vocal between 2:56 and 3:39pm. The strongest calls were shortly after the humpback began. We were disturbed to see in the afternoon that one of the big male sea lions had a fishing flasher stuck in his mouth. He did not look comfortable. Usually, there is nothing that can be done in these situations. The task of helping is difficult and the expertise at a fair distance. The Vancouver Aquarium vets have developed a tranquiliser that is safe to use and they have been successful at aiding sea lions before. But the sea lion needs to stay put long enough for help to arrive. They are awfully big and many in number making it all that much harder. This poor fellow may not get any help but we did report it to Fisheries and Oceans (DFO.ORR-ONS.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca) on the recommendation of Jackie Hildering. At least it will be part of the record. The night looks like it will close out with humpbacks once again. Some pretty nice vocals from 7:50pm to 8:47pm when two tugs in quick succession transited through Blackney Pass into Blackfish where the humpback was. It certainly disturbed the humpbacks train of thought and he soon went quiet. Tried again later a 9:45pm but he no longer seemed interested in continuing.  OrcaLab 26 Sep 2020 22:28:59 PDT Superb sounds!! Beautiful humpback in Blackfish Sound. OrcaLab 26 Sep 2020 20:25:25 PDT Superb sounds!! A vocal humpback was making lovely sounds a few minutes ago! Might continue, so stay tuned! OrcaLab 26 Sep 2020 15:11:39 PDT Distant calls audible. A bit of a post script to the summary: had written this summary earlier in the eventing when everything was quiet. Surprise, out of "nowhere" the sounds of rubbing at Strider Beach followed by very faint calls further to the west on the Critical Point hydrophone. Now just past midnight and the calls continue. OrcaLab 26 Sep 2020 00:06:22 PDT

September 25 Pacific White-sided dolphins, Humpbacks, Sea Lions After all the rush of yesterday, after all the wind and rain, today was pretty peaceful. Rivers of water literally poured out from the spongy forest and onto the sloping beach beyond. Mushrooms, beginning to sprout up, dot the forest floor with surprising colour. The slugs are enjoying feasts of chanterelle to anamita. There was even a faint rainbow at the end of the day just before a group of dolphins passed in the fading light. The story of the day belonged to the Sea Lions who hauled out on the local rocks in numbers today. Our count ranged from 95 to 100+. They looked like they were glad to finally find a place to lay their bodies down and snooze. When the sun came out, (yes it really did), steam rose in billows around them as they stretched and growled. Geese flew over today, another marker of the passing seasons. Although the humpbacks continued to call through the night as they did last night, they were quite distant and sparse during the day. We did catch a glimpse of a humpback in the entrance to Blackney Pass. The breath of the humpbacks was amplified by the heavy moisture in the air and it rose high, lingered, then slowly disappeared moments before the next breath. The harlequin ducks have now taken up residency in the bays here joining the ever watchful Uni the seagull and the ever so patient heron. All three species will be with us throughout the winter. Tonight the rising moon made a brief appearance above the dark trees that ring the bay. Overall, it felt like a day to pause and absorb the sky, the ocean and especially the forest now covered in the fallen semi deciduous cedar offerings.  OrcaLab 25 Sep 2020 20:35:23 PDT September 24 2020: [C06s], T002C’s, T090’s,PWD,Sea Lions A day in the life! After a night of distant but constant humpback calls in Blackfish Sound peppered with dolphin chatter, morning came with shouts of “ORCA!” just after 8am. Everyone came to the Lab for what would turn out to be a rather epic 6 hours of watching Bigg’s orcas travel back and forth in Blackney Pass in pursuit of finding a bite to eat. The group of 7-8 by our count were together travelling slowly southward while closer to the far side of the Pass. There were two males, one fully adult and the other looked to be younger, the rest were a mix of females and juveniles. There was a lot of back and forth so progress was slow. We had the quick impression that they were already on the hunt. We could not tell if they were successful yet but they did catch the attention of a large whale watching sailboat that motored closer to their position. This worried us because if the whales were seriously hunting they would be sensitive to disturbance. There were quite a few sea lions in the water and none hauled out as the timing of the tides was not conducive. The orcas did not seem immediately interested. Continuing south, the orcas were about half way along Parson Island just after 9am when about 50 + dolphins rushed into Blackney Pass from the north. They passed fairly close to us then suddenly did an abrupt turn into Hanson Island and swept by even closer and disappeared back to Blackfish Sound. Had they got wind of the orcas? Just after this the orcas took a deep dive and we momentarily lost track of them. Acoustic clues, bangs, whistles and more bangs, directed our attention and the remote Parson camera toward the area of Blackney Pass just beyond our view. There, on the Baronet Passage side of Cracroft Island were the Bigg’s again moving back and forth making short transits of the area. There were a few calls along with whistles and a few sharp “snap” sounds as if they had made a direct hit. The view was still distant and it was not clear what they had found but we were quite convinced that they had by now had successfully got something. They continued to work the area now as two groups simultaneously working together but somewhat independently at the same time. It now dawned on us that there were two different families here and we began to review the photos from earlier and look in the ID catalogue for possible matches. Megan (McKenzie) compared photos of the larger male and noted similarity to the male in the T02C family. The young male was travelling close to the older one this caused some confusion as the count of two males did not match the profile of the T02Cs. We left off trying to match IDS as we were kept busy following the whales as they continued to hunt. Gradually they moved closer and closer to where Blackney Pass runs into Johnstone Strait. And still the back and forth. The hunt seemed to be lasting a very long time. The whales breached, porpoised and breached some more. At one point it looked as if a small cetacean was fleeing their pursuit. All the while the occasional call, whistles and echo location. By 12pm, the orcas had shifted over to Hanson Island. They regrouped and then headed into the little pass, dubbed “Little Blackney” between Hanson Island and the small island, dubbed “Little Hanson”. They disappeared from our view but our expectation was that they would emerge and travel close to Hanson Island (our side of the Pass). However, a large grey zodiac had entered “Little Blackney Pass” from the opposite direction and after seven minutes the orcas reappeared from where they had first entered, they had turned around. They headed out a short way, looking like they might head out to the Strait. They breached, tail and pec slapped. Five minutes later the grey zodiac also reappeared and was soon joined by another whale watching zodiac. The determined Bigg’s, having made up their minds to go back into Blackney Pass, regrouped once more and at 12:50pm they turned north and travelled this time on the outside this time of Little Hanson Island. When they came into our view they angled out and crossed over to Parson Island. At first they were all together but once more they split into similar groups, with the two males together in the one group of five and three in the other. Just before 2pm, the male group was off West Pass while the group of three were further south opposite Harbledown Island. By now we had the identities of the two groups thanks to the arrival of Jared Towers. Indeed it was the T02Cs, as we had guessed, as well as the T090s, the family to which the younger male actually belonged. Confusion sorted. Finally, around 2:30pm the orcas decided to head into Blackfish Sound and out of our immediate view. It had been quite the day and really interesting watching how the Bigg’s handled the presence of boats while hunting. There had been the definite impact of the grey zodiac in the small pass causing the whales to turn back. Their breaches and tail slaps in the presence of the boats afterwards and before redoubling efforts to come north seemed like a definite statement. Earlier we had worried that the sailboat had been too persistent in its intentions and had caused the orcas to dodge back and forth. Hunting is a very sensitive and difficult activity. Earning a living this way is not an option, it is a necessity. Success is not a given. Perhaps this thought needs to better guide and inform boating behaviours around these whales. Our day had one more flavour. At 2:27pm Kate Brauer reported that Resident orcas had passed Bere Point and that they were headed east. Jared, already out and about, found the C6s eastbound at Lizard Point. So we waited. Expecting something to happen soon but nothing. Eventually however, the wind and rain came to overtake the night and saturate the forest.  OrcaLab 25 Sep 2020 10:04:30 PDT

No calls but orcas nearby The T090's and the T02C's have finally made their way back into Blackfish Sound which is where the originally came from. After hours of trying from land, Jared Towers managed to identify them for us. Thanks Jared!  Orca 24 Sep 2020 14:44:29 PDT No orcas present. The group of Bigg's Orcas off the entrance of Blackney Pass and are hunting! Watch live:https://www.explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Orcalab  24 Sep 2020 09:38:22 PDT Orcas approaching Orcalab. Orca in Blackney Pass follow them https://www.explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Jennifer 24 Sep 2020 08:15:14 PDT Distant calls audible. A rather nice humpback in Blackfish Sound - not close but persistently there! OrcaLab 24 Sep 2020 02:00:19 PDT September 23 2020 “As” heard, Humpbacks” Twister, Merge, Pacific White-sided dolphins, Dall’s porpoise. Sea Lions Throughout the morning the strong winds slowly diminished only to be replaced by heavy rain and a couple of loud thunder claps close overhead. The ocean and the sky became equally grey. With it being so dry lately we all had to learn how to dodge about without getting totally soaked each time. We pretty much failed and there are a lot of clothes hanging about hoping to dry eventually. The extra blankets for beds and fires being lit once again in the stoves suggests that the seasons have really turned. Another indication that things are shifting, the humpbacks, for really the first time,have started to show more inclination for coming together. With three humpbacks in the Pass around 6pm, two, opposite the Lab, began to slap their pectoral fins and wave them and their flukes in the air. Sometimes these displays from these ever so big creatures can be very dramatic and the effects heard right across the water. We did have indications that the Resident orcas were around but the clues were few and far between. At 10:43am there were just two rubbing sounds. A glance at the Strider remote camera showed a group of dolphins just offshore heading west. Unlikely that the dolphins made those rub sounds but lately, dolphins have been accompanying the orcas so possibly this was the case in this situation. So we waited on what might happen nearer to Robson Bight. Sure enough starting at 11:11am there was definite orca echolocation. No calls, no clues as to who but our guess was that they were headed west. At 3:16pm, we finally heard some very distant calls in Blackfish Sound. Possibly the whales had travelled through from Johnstone Strait via Weynton Pass and were on their way out to Queen Charlotte Strait. Four hours later, Kate Brauer, braving the rain, reported six orcas passed Bere Point about 11/2 miles off the Malcolm Island shore. A big male was out in the lead. The Sea Lions waited for the high tide to begin dropping before jumping on to the Hanson Rocks. Could see this happening but it was already getting dark so their presence was mostly noted by their growls and grunts. Perhaps the night can expect the humpbacks to announce their presence as well! OrcaLab 24 Sep 2020 01:50:26 PDT