Superb sounds!! A great rub is happening at the Strider rubbing beach, fantastic sounds on our new hydrophone! Paul 06 Sep 2020 21:03:25 PDT Orcas approaching Orcalab. Finally after all these days away here they come ! The A5s are coming in come to see them in live at Sea Lion Cam https://www.explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Jennifer 06 Sep 2020 17:27:56 PDT Distant calls audible. After some reports from the Kate at Bere point of whales heading east we are now hearing some A5 calls and echolocation on our Flower Island hydrophone!  Orcalab  06 Sep 2020 16:35:42 PDT September 5 2020: Humpbacks The day started with the sun rising beautifully through the fog, which slowly burnt off making way for a beautiful sunny and, once again, calm day (as you can probably tell from the header). Humpbacks were the main event: our two new lab assistants Megan and April, saw Quartz milling around in Blackney Pass at 10:50am. He continued milling for the next hour and a half. Though we are still patiently waiting to hear from the Northern Residents (literally), humpbacks bring such hope and peace to the days, a sweet reminder that species can bounce back after being hunted nearly to extinction. At 12:45pm, Quin and Pippa noticed birds assembling above the water in Blackney Pass, and hoped the humpback was bubble-net feeding. We looked attentively and patiently with our binoculars, but no humpbacks lunged out of the water. All it was were birds flocking together, maybe near a sea lion or harbor seal's catch. Quin then showed everyone at the lab how the new mixer works. It is one impressive and exciting new piece of equipment! And thanks to our Strider operation crew yesterday, one of our Strider Rubbing Beach hydrophones is now on the mixer, which will allow us to listen to the orcas rubbing and calling when they are at Strider! After our class on the new mixer, Paul and Helena got ready to head to Alert Bay for a couple of days. Meanwhile, Megan and Quin took our boat Sonic to our neighbor Rogers' house to give it a good clean; its hull was covered in barnacles and was due for a good wash. They winched Sonic out of the water and used a pressure washer to water its underbelly. The process sounds like an easy one, but in reality, it requires a lot of time and attention (as most things do when done with love and care). An hour and a half later, Sonic was sparkling clean again. You can see the before and after below. They did a fantastic job! The rest of the afternoon and night was quiet and ended with another beautiful moonrise.  Gloria 06 Sep 2020 06:06:49 PDT