September 20 2020: A23s, A25s, Humpbacks, PWD, Sea Lions To start things off a travelling balladeer humpback went from Blackfish Sound to the entrance of Blackney Pass between 1:33am and 2:30am. Ten minutes before 6am another (or perhaps the same) humpback got Helena out of bed and to the Lab. It was just before the shift change, Megan was due to oversee the Lab from 6am on. Helena checked the systems and the audio stream before leaving the Lab to Megan. A short while later, Megan heard A5 calls on Kaizumi Rubbing Beach at 6:42am. The last we had been aware of the A23s and A25s was when they were in Blackfish Sound yesterday evening. They obviously made it back to the Strait sometime during the night. Ten minutes after the first calls the A5s carried on slowly to the east. Kaizumi is not very far from Robson Bight but the whales took their time and sauntered into the Bight around 8:33am. Their echolocation became stronger at 8:33am and close three minutes later. They were now passing the eastern headland on their way to the beaches. Dolphins became chatty off Strider Rubbing Beach at 8:51am and 6 minutes later louder off Robson Bight. Were they going in the opposite direction to the orcas or just spread out between the two stations? We would later see how many dolphins had gathered in the Strait. By 9:16am the whales were visible on the remote Strider camera and by 9:20am they were in for the rub. A60 was the most prominent and managed a two minute rub before heading east. A109 followed. The rub sounds were close and distinctive. Ever heard rain sticks? - that is exactly what a rub sounds like. While the rub continued at Strider we heard calls on the Main rubbing beach hydrophone as well. Main is just a hop skip and jump east of Strider. The rubs stopped at 9:30am and the calls faded off by 9:43am as the orcas carried on to the east and away from the Ecological Reserve. They would go fairly far to Centre Johnstone Strait. Our day rolled on with plans to go back to Alert Bay for more deck lumber. We are hoping to replace a fairly large section of the old deck but it's going to require a fair amount of wood, more than one trip. Yesterday, we managed to bring some of the wood late in the day which meant unloading in the dark. Today, we were determined to get an earlier start on the 2nd load. So as soon as the boat floated Jenn, Megan (McKenzie) and Paul were off. Just as they were leaving a sea lion grabbed a huge salmon right off the Lab and dramatically thrashed it about before swallowing. It began to rain and then rain all afternoon. Jenn and Paul got a load onto the June Cove despite the rain and headed homeward with Megan who had been on other errands. By the time the wood was unloaded everyone was soaked but feeling very satisfied to have accomplished this task. As Paul, Jenn, and Megan changed into dry clothes and got warmed up with hot chocolate, Helena and Megan (Hockin-Bennett) recounted their afternoon experience of watching dolphins and orcas on the Strider remote camera. The first clue that something was about to happen were the excited dolphin calls off Robson Bight at 3:14pm. On a hunch we turned on the camera only to see 200+ dolphins in a large chorus line heading east just offshore at top speed past Strider. They made a large, quick swing round that took them close to the Vancouver Island shore. They then swept over Strider to the west in a rush. It was now 3:22pm. During this episode Scott let us know that the A23s/A25s were not far away, just east of the Reserve and heading west. What a dance! Passing by the Main Beach, the orcas went into Strider Beach for what would be an hour long rub. The rub began at 3:58pm and ended at 4:37pm. There was something about the pace of this rub. Not the longest one we have recorded but it was both unhurried and intense at the same time. The two families were there together. Each individual seemed to stand out, especially the two large males who glided past several times eclipsing whoever else was nearby. Megan called them out for photo bombing! At one point the A25s (A61,A85 and A121) occupied the same frame. In another moment A61 became very agitated. He slapped his tail repeatedly while almost shaking his head. We could see no reason for his actions. The little baby, A121, was being quite freewheeling, A60 was coming closer. A61 eventually calmed down and resumed previous behaviours. The rub sounds were quite strong and the whales suddenly moved more quickly just toward the end of the rub. They went off to the west. Megan and Helena were very impressed by what had happened, from dolphins to orcas rubbing, the hour had flown by. Afterwards we ran into a few technical difficulties but by chance they briefly righted just as the orcas got back to Robson Bight. By this time the June Cove had arrived back and they were needed to help unload. About an hour later the systems were better and we went back to full monitoring. Some echolocation was heard at 6:36pm but there was no specific source. At 7:53pm there were calls in Blackfish Sound. A humpback obliged with a grumble at 7:58pm. The orca calls resumed at 8:18pm. The calls were faint, the whales moving away to the west. Since then a humpback in Blackfish Sound tried warming up with a series of deep short whups at 10:31pm. The “floor” and the night might just be his!  OrcaLab 21 Sep 2020 01:28:30 PDT Distant calls audible. https://www.explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base No calls but orcas nearby After a large group of dolphins swept Strider beach and then went close to the Vancouver Island shore to the west. The A25s and A23s followed them past the Main rubbing beach to Strider. Rubbing now. OrcaLab 20 Sep 2020 15:46:08 PDT No calls but orcas nearby After a large group od dolphins swept Strider beach and then went close to the Vancouver Island shore to the west. The A25s and A23s followed them past the Main rubbing beach to Strider. Rubbing now. OrcaLab 20 Sep 2020 15:41:49 PDT Orcas rubbing on the shore bottom. A5 heading to Strider Rubbing Beach, lets hope for a beautiful morning rub. Follow them with this link https://www.explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Jennifer 20 Sep 2020 09:18:43 PDT Superb sounds!! Some really lovely calls from the A5's right now at Kazumi. Often when it's just the one group in the whales don't feel such a need to vocalise as much and knowing that there are other groups possibly coming into the area soon (all fingers and toes crossed) maybe the A5's are excited about something. It's been a while since we heard them express themselves like this and it really is lovely!  Megan  20 Sep 2020 06:52:06 PDT Distant calls audible. Humpback in Blackfish warming up. OrcaLab 20 Sep 2020 06:09:43 PDT September 19 2020: A23s, A25s, [A34s,A24s,A42s Pine Island area], Humpbacks So this was a good one! Following a similar pattern to previous days, the A23s and A25s were in Johnstone Strait overnight. They could be heard passing over Strider Rubbing Beach briefly at 1:56am and Main Rubbing Beach a few minutes later. They went east and out of range soon after. Nothing of note happened until a humpback called from 6:30 - 6:40am. Jim Borrowman, in his capacity as Warden to the Ecological Reserve, went off in the smoggy/foggy morning to check on the Rubbing Beaches and take a few photos. They had just finished doing so when they heard a familiar blow! The A23s and A25s were coming back to the west along the Vancouver Island shore. Given this heads-up we took a closer look on the remote cameras and sure enough there they were, a few headed towards the Main Rubbing Beach at 10:30am. The smog was not even that bad and was beginning to burn off so we could see some distance offshore as well. Jim moved further out ahead of the whales’ advance and remained stationary. From the Strider camera we could see Jim’s position and the whales approaching along the shoreline. One of the first individuals was clearly visible, seen from above, underwater and made a beautiful turn without taking a breath and swam back towards the others. A61, A109, paused, had a short rub from 10:34 to 10:37am and then carried on to the west. There were others, including probably A60, further offshore and likewise heading west, last seen around 10:43am. Just ten minutes later they were approaching Robson Bight. A61 was ahead of the second group to pass the remote camera. All the while, the orcas made calls, whistles and echo location. A85 and her baby Twilight, not travelling with uncle A61, were seen offshore at 11:08am. Calls were heard until 11:16am. The orcas made it to Kaizumi Beach area by 11:59am. Here again they whistled, called and echolated their way to the west not really hesitating too long before approaching Cracroft Point (12:44pm) and the entrance to Blackney Pass (12:54pm). Some of the the orcas (the A25s) had crossed over from Vancouver Island Noise from two boats, the Coastal Nomad and the John P. Tully (Coast Guard) close by, soon drowned out the calls. Megan, after taking April to Telegraph Cove (April is off to Victoria to begin a new job), was surprised to find the A25s, all together now, breaching west of Big Bay on the Hanson Island side. She could see the A23s mid strait favouring Vancouver Island still. As an interlude, a humpback called briefly at 3:15pm and again at 4:07pm in Blackfish Sound. The orcas made it to Weynton Pass where Matchu from Double Bay, on his way into Alert Bay, saw the whales. He later described how, after turning off the engine when seeing the whales approaching, one individual swam close, turned and looked directly at him. Eventually, the A23s and A25s made it to Blackfish Sound. They were there by the time Helena and Paul returned from Alert Bay before 7pm.. As the June Cove entered Blackney Pass from the Strait they counted 90+ sea lions spread out on three rocks on the Hanson shore. As the boat was settled and unloaded of its lumber and other supplies the A23s/A25s faded off having never made it to Blackney Pass. Just perhaps, their increased interest in rubbing (however brief), their breaching, their increased number of calls (they have been so quiet) were an indication that the orca scene is about to shift. Jared Towers called out today to investigate a report of a dead orca west of Port Hardy, instead came across the A34s, A42s and A24s opposite Pine Island. As they were mainly floating when he and Ellie came upon them, he surmised that maybe the tug had seen a stationary orca and mistook it for dead. The whales were probably just tuckered out after perhaps travelling far. The big question of course is whether or how long before the A23s/A25s connect with them and will they convince them to extend their travels to the Johnstone Strait area? That would be nice! We would like to thank April for all her hard work and enthusiasm. We wish her well.  OrcaLab 20 Sep 2020 05:03:33 PDT