As the sunny heatwave days of mid-April come to a close, we're beginning to see more and more of the familiar transformations of Spring. Particularly enjoyable as of late has been the presence of very large flocks of birds in Blackney Pass. Hundreds of Red-breasted and Common Mergansers, Rhinoceros Auklets, Glaucous-winged and Mew gulls, Bald eagles and an incredible array of Pacific Loons have assembled to feed and cohabitate in an inspiring spectacle. The sea lions have well and truly moved on from their usual winter haul-out rock just a kilometer down the Hanson Island shore, and there has been little heard from the world of cetaceans. As we approach the up-coming summer season we remain grateful for our beautiful environment and for the folks that continue to support us in myriad ways. -OrcaLab Team Quin 24 Apr 2021 10:17:12 PDT

Last night as the vibrant day faded into a dramatic golden evening, excited dolphin chatter began to tickle the underwater soundscape of Johnstone Strait. After about 40 minutes this joyful banter subsided, but the night sky began to come alive. At 11:15PM we were thrilled to notice the beginning of a true spectacle: Aurora Borealis just beginning to light up the northeastern sky in a two-hour long symphony waterfall of green and orange. It was absolutely stunning. As if the previous night's dolphins were a promise of what was to come, we woke first thing this morning to a few short but distinct Bigg's calls. The encounter was short-lived, and seeing that we did not know which hydrophone they were heard on, we tuned in even closer throughout the day awaiting their arrival. Sure enough at around 2:30PM, clear Bigg's calls arrived on our Main Rubbing Beach hydrophone. They continued off and on for about an hour. We were pleasantly surprised when at 6:05PM the distinct blows of a group of orca rang out from across Blackney Pass near Parson Light. For the first time in a while we rushed to our stations and enjoyed the passing while the usual documentation and discussion occurred. However, the heat shimmer across the water left our photos somewhat unhelpful. We saw four Bigg's orcas total; one distinct male and two females with a smaller orca alongside. Quite the mystery it was when even our friend and colleague Jared Towers proved unsuccessful in the search to photograph these whales today. Nonetheless, as another beautiful night sets in we wait patiently for the return of the orcas and the northern lights. Quin 17 Apr 2021 22:14:33 PDT

No orcas present. Early in the morning on April 12th, from the deck of OrcaLab, we could hear the distinctive blow of a humpback whale. In early April as humpbacks begin to arrive back to these waters, we are always so curious as to who they are and relived when we are able to recognize a whale returning from previous years. This was definitely the case this day as were able to identify this whale as Guardian. She is often one of the first humpback whales to arrive back from the long winter migration, every year, since 2011 and she spends long periods of time in Blackney Pass making her one of our favourites! Though we know she is female, to date she has not been seen with a calf. We are hopeful that her return will be one of many in the weeks to follow. OrcaLab 16 Apr 2021 20:08:03 PDT

Spring has been moving along quite well for us all at the lab. Many projects and plans have been coming into action and we feel blessed to be enjoying some truly phenomenal weather. We witnessed a rather unfortunate sight at the beginning of this week. At around 8:50PM on Monday a whale began making its way across Blackney Pass quickly from Parson Bay. Within minutes of first spotting it, the whale showed up 'on our doorstep,' but something didn't look quite right. Assumed to be a Humpback at first, we noticed a very distinguished spine and visible distension of the whale's belly. It was lifting no more than just its head out of the water and thus we were unable to see a dorsal fin. It was the pigment and texture of the whale's skin that gave away the fact that this seemed to be a different species than a Humpback altogether. Sure enough, Jackie and Christie with MERS confirmed it to be a Grey Whale. We sighted and photographed it once more outside the lab again on Tuesday morning at 11:50AM. With further findings by Jared Towers, the whale proved to be very emaciated, and in generally not great shape. While this whale is still living, the health of this Grey Whale seems to echo similar trends being found in the Grey Whale Unusual Mortality Event highlighted by NOAA here: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-life-distress/2019-2021-gray-whale-unusual-mortality-event-along-west-coast-and Quin 14 Apr 2021 23:06:33 PDT Spring has been moving along quite well for us all at the lab. Many projects and plans have been coming into action and we feel blessed to be enjoying some truly phenomenal weather. We witnessed a rather unfortunate sight at the beginning of this week. At around 8:50PM on Monday a whale began making its way across Blackney Pass quickly from Parson Bay. Within minutes of first spotting it, the whale showed up 'on our doorstep,' but something didn't look quite right. Assumed to be a Humpback at first, we noticed a very distinguished spine and visible distension of the whale's belly. It was lifting no more than just its head out of the water and thus we were unable to see a dorsal fin. It was the pigment and texture of the whale's skin that gave away the fact that this seemed to be a different species than a Humpback altogether. Sure enough, Jackie and Christie with MERS confirmed it to be a Grey Whale. We sighted and photographed it once more outside the lab again on Tuesday morning at 11:50AM. With further findings by Jared Towers, the whale proved to be very emaciated, and in generally not great shape. While this whale is still living, the health of this Grey Whale seems to echo similar trends being found in the Grey Whale Unusual Mortality Event highlighted by NOAA here: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-life-distress/2019-2021-gray-whale-unusual-mortality-event-along-west-coast-and Quin 14 Apr 2021 23:05:14 PDT

No orcas present. We had a rather exciting day at the Lab yesterday! While working on the hydrophone systems in the Lab Jeff spotted a group of orcas heading north on the far side of the Pass. We all scrambled as quickly as we could and managed to catch a glimpse just as the group disappeared into Blackfish Sound. Soon, Lisa who is staying at Double Bay, spotted the group. Jared Towers was alerted and he prepared to go out. When he arrived on scene he found the T007Bs engaged in a hunt. Meanwhile, back at the Lab we watched a second small group as they headed south. This turned out to be the T060s who headed toward the Parson Light and then into Parson Bay. The time was now about 2:30pm. By the time Jared came into Blackney Pass the T060s had turned around and were headed north toward White Beach Pass. Throughout both these encounters we had been hearing Bigg's calls in Johnstone Strait. Jared left the T060s and went looking for the third group but time and wind discouraged the effort. Later, we heard the calls nearer the Ecological Reserve. Helena 06 Apr 2021 10:38:00 PDT

No calls but orcas nearby There are now 4 more Bigg's orcs ion Blackney, opposite the Lab, generally heading north, though a bit back and forth, possibly hunting. Lab crew 05 Apr 2021 14:29:57 PDT No calls but orcas nearby Orcas heading north in Blackney Pass, at least 2 including one male. Long dive times, so probably Bigg's. Lab crew 05 Apr 2021 13:36:30 PDT