October 25,26,27 2020: A34s, T036Bs, T099s, Humpbacks, perhaps dolphins, and of course Sea Lions If you have been following the recent posts from the last few days you will already be aware that the Northern Resident orca family, the A34s, returned to the area on October 25. Just before noon that Sunday Megan decided to make a late morning trip to Kaizumi Beach to do some filming. Both James and Becca went with her in the Sonic, OrcaLabÕs secondary boat. Earlier in the day, Helena and Paul set out from Alert Bay where they had gone to vote. They had promised Jenn and Anthony to take them to Telegraph Cove as they were leaving to go home to Whistler. With the winds abating and morning just beginning, they negotiated their way through a stream of north bound humpbacks with their tall plumes of breath catching the glorious morning sunrise in Weynton Pass. Numerous busy Sea lions had to be also dodged in order to make it to Hanson. The boat was loaded with lumber and supplies and these needed to be offloaded before Jenn and Anthony could jump on board with all their gear. We were glad to give Jenn and Anthony a safe start to their journey. We are very grateful to both for all their hard work while at the Lab. The ride to Telegraph was bumpy in places and even showing signs of freshening once again. This was reported to Megan who was still deciding whether or not to go to Kaizumi. Eventually, she thought it might be okay to do so and headed off. She left a recording going - just in case. It turned out to be a good decision because in the 20 minutes she was gone was when the A34s arrived in Blackfish Sound! Paul and Helena had by this time returned to Alert Bay. Aware Megan was away from the Lab Helena turned up the scanner in the house and heard a few distant calls! She made a note of the time and told Megan on her return. Megan decided to look at the recordingÕs spectrogram. Sure enough it was the A34s! They were vocal only for a short period but the evidence was clear. It had been a month - a long month - since any Northern Residents had been around. Two things happened after it was determined to be the A34s. First, Jared was notified and he set out soon after. And second, Alex Morton, looking out from Donegal Head, saw orcas southbound over in the direction of the White Cliff Islets just as Jared also located them and confirmed them as the A34s. The A34s spent the next several hours foraging off the Òtop endÓ of Blackfish Sound near Bold Head while we waited & hoped for them to come ÒdownÓ into Blackney Pass. All in vain it turned out as they eventually decided for Weynton Pass later in the afternoon. By 6:23pm we started to hear their calls on the Cracroft Point system in Johnstone Strait. They were still west of ÒCPÓ. By 7:56pm they were passing the entrance of Blackney Pass and continuing eastward. As the humpback(s) started to warm up for the evening it was a bit of a toss-up whether to feature them or the now distant orcas. The orcas won out for a short while but it became more obvious that they were continuing to the east in the Strait and out of range. The humpback also decided to leave off as well and the rest of the night was uneventful. The A34s made their presence known again just after 6:30 the next morning (October 26). Coincidently, a humpback in Blackfish Sound did the same! The A34s carried on calling in the Strait. They sounded at first as if they were closer to the Vancouver Island shore but then seemed to cross over sometime before 9:30am. There were some lovely calls on the Cracroft Point system before they went quiet. At 10:45am they made the decision to head north in Blackney Pass. They were spread out from mid channel to the ÒotherÓ side. Megan managed to get some pictures. We already knew from Jared that all the family was there but it was satisfying to clearly see each individual for ourselves. Megan caught Helena and Paul just before they left the Alert Bay house, on their way back to Hanson, and she asked if they might operate the OrcaLab base camera as she and Bec had their hands full getting ID pictures etc. Before long,11:03am, the A34s were back in Blackfish Sound. They remained there for the rest of the day until just before 4pm when Matchu saw them heading south through Weynton Pass back to Johnstone Strait. It did not take them long. We were hearing calls in the Strait by 4:08pm. They moved eastward again and by 7:49pm their calls were fairly strong on the Kaizumi Beach system. An hour later the calls were stronger and echoing to both Parson Island and Cracroft Point. They were now again passing the entrance to Blackney Pass. The water noise from the wind generated waves made it impossible to hear whether they went in for a rub during the clear calls and echo location. Around the time the A34s were getting closer to Kaizumi, at 5:43pm, Quin and Suzie, from the ferry, saw a small group of BiggÕs orcas eastbound off Hyde Creek. Jared went out and identified the T036s and T099s. The BiggÕs then passed Alert Bay around 7pm. After a while the A34s moved on. A humpback chimed in briefly, and then made a more serious effort at 4:25am. The humpbacks are definitely now into a far more intense scene. The ÒsingingÓ is now maintained longer and has gone from individual sounds, to ÒphrasesÓ, to full songs now. This brings us to October 27 (today). The A34s repeated, though much later (starting around 10:30am), travelling westward ÒupÓ the Strait. It took them until 4pm to make it all the way back around to Blackfish Sound after going through Weynton Pass. Hopefully, this means they spent time successfully foraging. We believe the A34s crossed Blackfish and carried on into Queen Charlotte Strait. It is amazing how easy it has been, with the arrival of the A34s, to fall into the rhythm of listening once again. It was hard to have them absent for so long. But these last few days have seemed so delightfully normal. OrcaLab 27 Oct 2020 22:17:20 PST The nightly Humpback song in Blackfish sound has commenced.  Megan  27 Oct 2020 20:08:51 PST After a quiet spell we are hearing A34 calls on our Flower Island hydrophone. They must have taken Weynton passage and are now foraging in Blackfish sound. We all hope they catching lots of salmon!  Megan  27 Oct 2020 15:52:27 PST Distant calls audible. After a very quiet night apart from a short Humpback song around 4:30am the A34's are on their way back from the east. We are currently hearing some midrange calls on Kazumi rubbing beach along with some faint echolocation.  Megan, Beck and Helena  27 Oct 2020 09:38:21 PST Some lovely Humpback calls on Flower Island!  Megan  27 Oct 2020 03:31:00 PST