September 16 2021 A50s, A54s, A42s, other A5s heard It was probably too much to imagine that the A30s would have the entire area to themselves after so many days having the constant companionship of the A5s. True to that, after the A30s (?A50s) had their rubs at Kaizumi and then at Strider some of the A5s turned up in Johnstone Strait before 1am. This A5 group seemed to be following the A30 group eastward. After 1am, the A5 calls became stronger as this group neared Strider Beach and especially when they joined the A30s for a rub that began at 1:17am. The rub lasted eleven minutes until 1:28am. Afterwards the calls turned to distant as the whales moved away, offshore and turned. Their wide turn possibly brought them closer to the Cracroft side. Progress west was slow. The calls remained distant and in the same vicinity opposite the rubbing beaches for quite a while. Eventually, they left the area of the Ecological Reserve behind. Then the trail went cold for nearly two hours. At 7:45am calls resumed on the Kaizumi system. But they were never loud. Most likely the whales were closer to Cracroft than Vancouver Island. At 8:11am, there were calls on the CP system showing their definite progress westward. It was half an hour later that the whales indicated they were anywhere near the entrance of Blackney Pass. They were not hurrying. The current was still against them and had been since 7am. It would not turn to ebb until 2:33pm. So they milled about, no doubt foraging as well. Just before 9am came an interesting development. A30 calls were heard in Blackfish Sound and not long after A5 calls as well. There had been a split in the ranks. As we listened we felt as if the A54s were possibly the A30 group in Blackfish and later at 10:56am when Quin reported seeing the A50s in the Strait this assumption seemed to be supported. The whales in the Strait were definitely fighting the current on any attempt they made to get into the Pass. Most of the time they stayed in the rip to the west of Cracroft Point. A search of Blackfish yielded very little until finally we spotted a male, by himself, slightly favouring the Plumper Islands. He too was foraging and rather directionless. In contrast at 11:14am, a small group (2-3) in Blackfish looked like they definitely had Blackney Pass in mind. Events quickend after this. By 11:30am we were watching orcas come “in” from Blackfish Sound. It looked to be at least some of the A54s and all of the A42s. Possibly A94 was there as well though we did not actually see him this time. These whales cleared toward Johnstone Strait at 11:49am. What happened next was interesting. The A50s who had been in the Strait all this time left to head through Blackney Pass to Blackfish Sound at 12:21pm. They possibly had with them the A54 group previously seen southbound. They were out of sight by 1pm. So now, the A5 groups were once more together, and the A30s had been likewise rejoined. A quick exchange! The A5s in the Strait were quiet but the A30s continued to be heard all the way to 7:44pm,albeit most of the calls were quite faint and only occasionally stronger as the whales shifted about the Sound. We cannot account for what happened to the A5s, not enough clues. But we can mention the incredible humpback effort that began at 3:17pm in Blackfish, the same time the A30s were calling. This humpback session developed into beautiful sequences until subsiding into groans, whups and other noises. The humpback ceased at 7:02pm, just before the last A30 calls forty minutes later. The night had some more humpback flavour when at 9:49pm an individual began calling on Flower Island again. Pretty loud too! He stopped before 10pm and from then on, he or someone else,only made a few whups, groans and water splashes. Whoever this was will probably not mind the rising winds through the night, or the predicted heavy downfall of rain. We welcomed Ely to Hanson Island and said goodbye to Lucile who is off on an adventure north. Suzie and Quin, likewise, set off in the morning only to return later in the day for one more Hanson night! We, of course, welcomed the return of the sea lions who have made the rocks to the south of the Lab their winter home.  OrcaLab 17 Sep 2021 00:04:47 PDT