No calls but orcas nearby July 16 & 17th Orcas: A35s, A73s Humpbacks: Stitch, Argonaut, Ripple & Calf We had become very used to the presence of those A1 and A5 groups in early July… and all at once they disappeared. After an 8 day silence (during which time we found plenty of odd jobs to do, and gave the humpbacks our utmost attention), we were delighted to receive two critical reports on July 16th. The first report alerted us to the presence of the A42s in Active Pass; 140 miles away to the south of Nanaimo. We were shocked! It is very probable that they continued through Tribune Channel (their last known location up here on July 6th) and took the narrower “back route” south, evading many pairs of hopeful, watchful eyes. Nevertheless, a good final piece to that particular puzzle. The second report was perhaps even more welcome - Northern Residents at Bere Point at 6pm, heading our way! This report from Kate was quickly followed by an update that it was members of the A35s and A73s (Springer’s family) who had rubbed and were heading east. We located tiny fins at 7:49pm in Blackfish Sound, but they were still a long way off. As the darkness settled, so increased their familiar A4 calls. Their long, lamenting ‘N4’ call punctuated the dusk as they made their way towards Blackney Pass, and at 10:30pm we heard some distinct calls which we know to be Springer - how incredible we can identify her and her offspring even in the depth of the night. At some point, they decided to either turn around or rest, because most of the night was spent without further instance. However just as the light crept in at 5:05am, so did their calls, and it was not long until they were out front in Blackney Pass. They were fairly spread out but we identified A77, A35 and her baby A117, and the A70s, travelling south. We didn’t yet have a positive visual ID for Springer (A73) and her offspring. They made their way east in Johnstone Strait in the morning light, and by 8:07am the first group had reached Strider Rubbing Beach - and began to rub. A second group came to the beach at 8:17am, and thanks to our remote cameras we captured some beautiful footage of Pine (A90) and her brand new baby rubbing side-by-side. We also saw Springer and her offspring rubbing at the beach. The first group (A35s) briefly rubbed at Main Rubbing Beach before turning back to the west to join Springer’s family, and all moved back to the west again. The rest of the day was fairly simple. The groups continued west in Johnstone Strait closer to Hanson Island, when at 11:15am they turned east again near its western end. They tightened up into a beautiful resting line and spent the next few hours moving slowly towards Kaizumi Beach, then turned back towards Cracroft Point, alternating east with west. We stopped hearing them just before 5pm and kept a wary eye on the rubbing beach cameras... but at 6pm there were fins in Blackney Pass, heading north! They had all silently turned and were cruising back into Blackfish Sound under a beautiful, golden light. There were lots of breaches and tail-slapping from A35’s baby, A117. We didn’t get a positive visual ID on the A73s again, but we heard that distinctive call a little while later so we believe Springer and her offspring were still with them. We caught some lovely close footage of A35 and baby foraging close to Flower Island at 7pm, and tracked them northwest along the Swanson Island shore. We are still hearing their calls as the day draws to a close, and they have just started to get a little louder - sounds like they’ve turned again and may pay us another close visit!  OrcaLab 18 Jul 2021 10:13:31 PDT