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