October 3 2020: Unidentified Bigg’s , T55s, Dolphins It was as if a grey sheet was drawn right in front of us today. The fog, or is it smog again, was so thick that the world became almost monochrome. Rather peaceful with our view pretty much reduced to the bays in front of us. We could make out the harlequin ducks and even a loon slightly off shore avoiding advancing sea lions. Amazingly,the day was not without orcas. Just before 2pm we heard Bigg’s calls. They must have been “just around the corner” in the entrance to Blackney Pass. By chance Jenn saw them along the fog line mid channel. They were just about to disappear into Blackfish Sound. We had no chance of photos but later wondered if they might the T55s who Jared Towers identified going west past Alert Bay at 6:46pm. In the evening, around 7:50pm Pacific Whitesided dolphins were heard in Johnstone Strait not far from Strider Rubbing Beach. They went west to Robson Bight where their calls became louder. After that their calls became distant once again and broke off eventually in the midst of heavy boat noise. It sounded like a sizable group. How often it seems we have both orcas and dolphins on the same day! Quite a lot of our day was consumed by moving the large, heavy new batteries off the June Cove and up onto the deck where they will soon replace the old ones and give literally new energy to the OrcaLab power systems. It was quite the job and possibly Megan, Jenn, Helena and Paul will feel it tomorrow! Time for a hot soak in the Hanson Island tub. Good news on the Quin and Suzie front. Suzie got some time off from work and she has now joined Quin on their new sailboat, the Orion. Quin has brought the boat around from Port Renfrew and is currently near Sonora Island. We will probably see them in a few days!. That is if the fog finally clears and we can actually see again! OrcaLab 03 Oct 2020 21:00:04 PST We have some very chatty Pacific white sided dolphins calling on our critical Point hydrophone! Its quite lovely! Megan, Paul and Helana 03 Oct 2020 19:10:33 PST