September 6 2020: A23s, A25s, humpbacks The day began with faint calls from a humpback intermittently with boat noise near Flower Island, until finally, the boat noise faded away, and the humpback erupted in calls. It was so beautiful; it brought April to tears. It was 12:58am. The humpback stopped calling thirty minutes later, which was the beginning of another silent night. The rest of our morning was quiet, and then at 1:43pm, we got a report from Kate that the Northern Residents were at Bere Point heading east for a rub. A few minutes later, Lance let us know there were orca vocalizations at Malcolm Point. Everyone at the lab had smiles across their faces, and the excitement was palpable. The Northern Residents were most likely heading back into our range! Kate sent us another report at 2:28pm: the whales were now at Black Bluff, still eastbound. And then another report at 4:04pm, this time from Scott Pow: the orcas were the A23s and A25s, and they were now at Lizard Point, continuing east. Quin was in the lab with Meg and April, getting ready to hear the whales. And then, at 4:18, after five days without a Northern Resident in the area, the first calls came through on our Flower Island hydrophone. Gloria and Pippa were in the kitchen, making a birthday cake for Moss, and Megan was doing yoga, but as soon as they heard that one faint call, everyone ran to the lab. All of us were incredibly happy to be listening to the Northern Residents again. Scott had told us A60 was in the lead, swimming further ahead than the rest of the group, and we could hear one orca vocalizing near Flower Island. We think this might have been A60 we were listening to! More whales came into range, and the calls were beautiful. They sounded as excited as we were. We first spotted them on our Sea Lion camera, traveling south, and then at 5:25pm they entered Blackney Pass. It was the A23s, with A60 still in the lead. They were foraging, taking deep dives, and echolocating through the Pass. At one point, a humpback came up for air along with the orcas. It was magical. Unfortunately, the magic was interrupted as we began to hear a loud tug and barge near Flower Island. It was now 5:27pm. The noise from the tug, Polar Storm, was getting louder and louder until it was all we could hear. The A23s cleared Blackney Pass at 5:58pm. Just as the A23s exited the Pass, the A25s entered, traveling south, fast and quietly. The whales’ entrance was quickly followed by Polar Storm, which, contrary to the orcas, was so loud we had to turn the gain down on our hydrophone. The tug followed the whales closely, and it exited the Pass along with the A23s at 6:08pm. The A23s and A25s headed east through Johnstone Strait, and again so was Polar Storm. Once they passed Cracroft Point, they started to travel slower, heading towards the Vancouver Island side of the Strait. Maybe they were heading in for a rub? It was now 6:24pm. Our hope was confirmed by 6:42pm when we heard loud rubbing sounds at Kaizumi Rubbing Beach. Meanwhile, Gloria spotted a big male from our Cracroft Point camera, mid-strait, heading east. It looked like it could be A61, slowly making his way to Kaizumi to join the rest of the group. The whales rubbed for about ten minutes and then continued eastbound. At 7:03pm, we received a message from Luc from Eagle Eye asking us if the A50s were at Cracroft Point. They had heard something on the radio. We scanned on our camera, but nothing. And our hydrophone was only picking up boat noise. We’re not sure what was said on the radio, but we’re sure hoping the A50s are around! We could hear the whales slowly making their way east through Johnstone Strait, getting closer and closer to Critical Point. And then, at 8:50pm, the whales arrived at Strider Rubbing Beach and celebrated with some evening rubbing. They sounded incredibly excited, whistling while rubbing for a good twenty minutes. They then turned around and headed west. What a day! We also had a very special event today: it was Moss’ first birthday! Megan made her a hat of moss, and Pippa and Gloria baked her a cake. She swam and ran around all day, which is not much different than any other day for Moss here at the lab! The rest of the evening was quiet. We’re excited for tomorrow; and hopefully, we’ll get our answer about whether or not the A50s are around! Gloria 07 Sep 2020 10:04:01 PDT