August 20 2021 Orcas: I65s, I27s, I4s, [lower Johnstone Strait: A42s, A25s] Humpbacks: Need to really go back a day and talk about humpbacks. Kamilla, who is here as a volunteer, has been totally dedicated to trying to understand the humpbacks who frequent Blackney Pass. She has become so familiar with some that she will take one look, and not necessarily with any visual aid, and easily declare to the rest of us, who it is. She keeps an eye on the Pass throughout the day observing the movements of individuals. This is not easy. To study the humpbacks from land requires long hours of observation, waiting for a good look of either the dorsal fin or if really lucky a fluke presented in just the right way for a photograph. The habits of these whales also tends to confound the land observer as they are most often on the far side of the Pass. The distance makes the task harder, and in the summer, heat waves distort the images. The humpbacks flow in and out of the Pass exchanging places with each other constantly so one has to be on their toes to spot a new arrival. Digital photography and a copy of the good Marine Education and Research Society (MERS) catalogue really help. Even then sometimes we need to reach out for extra help. A case in point. Yesterday, Kam photographed a pair of humpbacks close to each other. She wondered immediately if this was a mum and young one. With only the dorsal fins to go on we began a search of the catalogue for a match. MERS has identified a lot of humpbacks. They have organised the catalogue to show both the underside of the flukes and the dorsal fins for most. Our photo was okay but not close so it would prove difficult. A list of possibles was compiled and then the best guesses were put forward to Jackie Hildering of MERS. Jackie replied immediately to Kam’s email, “Stingray”! A first sighting for this year and she was with a young one whose identity was not yet known and possibly belonging to Stingray. Yea!! If only Stingray had shown her flukes too! She has beautifully white flukes earning her the designation of BCZuk2011#7 (BC for British Columbia, Z for the proportion of white on the tail). She was first identified in this area in 2011. Kam was thrilled to contribute to the 2021 sighting’s list. Great work all round. For those following (and Kam is included here too) the orcas, it proved a quiet night after yesterday’s groups travelled east out of the range of our hydrophones just after 9pm. We had a sneaking feeling that the A42s would draw everyone to their favourite haunts in the lower Johnstone Strait and, heaven forbid, even possibly into the Salish Sea beyond. It was with relief then when just before 6am we heard distant calls. Sure enough the I15 groups were on their way back. By 7:18am they were opposite both the Main and Strider Beaches within the Ecological Reserve. They did not stop to rub but resolutely carried on to the west. As I65 and her young one, I165, rolled past there were some wonderful calls. Before 8am they reached Robson Bight. Close to shore, the I65s curled around the point and into the Bight. They went deep into the Bight skirting the shoreline all the way to the Estuary. We followed them on the remote camera. It was a beautiful morning. No fog, no wind to speak of, just early morning light on the sea partially shadowed by the high mountains of Vancouver Island. On their westward trek they stopped every so often for a bite of breakfast before moving on. This slowed their progress. By the time they neared the Bight’s western headland, the Alert Bay seiner, the Western Moon had motored by to do a test set on the opposite side of the Bight. Everyone, whales included, so occupied for a while, eventually went on their separate ways. The I65s kept going along the Vancouver Island shore and we would learn later from Gary on the Skana that the I27s had opted for the Cracroft Shore and were up to the Sophia Islands by 9:19am. By then the others were passing Kaizumi Beach, still spread out., still somewhat vocal. As they carried on their calls dropped off by 10:37am. We did not hear them again until nearly noon. By then they were fairly far west. At 1:15pm they were reported off Telegraph and Beaver Coves. Their calls would remain distant for the rest of the afternoon. The I27s, independent as ever, did not immediately make it as far as the others. Jared reported that they found them off Big Bay, mid Hanson Island. Later we were able to actually find them on the Cracroft Point remote camera. They were then mid strait, foraging with only a slightly eastward inclination. I77 looked very intent on finding food and was closer to Hanson Island. All this time there was no indication that the A5s (the A42s and A25s) were anywhere nearby. Later, we were informed that they were near Nodales Channel, and not far from Thurston Bay on Sonora Island in the Lower Johnstone Strait at 3:30pm. As the Wardens came to collect our gang for a night at Boat Bay (a long standing annual tradition) around 4pm, the I15s were still in the same general area to the west in Johnstone Strait.Every so often we could make out their distant blows and calls. Finally by 5:30pm both the blows and calls had disappeared. Thinking that perhaps they went into Weynton Pass on the ebb we waited for their calls to come from the other side in Blackfish Sound. It was a long unsatisfying wait. Then at 7:34pm, in the middle of dinner, Momoko (in Japan) heard calls. But there was no joy in finding out where the calls were coming from as they ended as soon as the recording was started. At 9:04pm, pretty much the same story, calls but no source. The night is not over but at this point we still are imagining that the I15 groups elected to continue west into Queen Charlotte Strait, encouraged by the currents and their old habits of late. A humpback,making a few sounds as the moon rose over Blackney Pass, provided a fitting reminder of how this summary started, with a bow to the lovely humpbacks who fill our days with their presence and soon our nights with their songs. OrcaLab 20 Aug 2021 22:04:20 PDT