sorry, the link I just posted does not work - will try to fix - it was a sound clip of the humpback and orcas from the other night. Helena 10 Sep 2021 00:47:32 PDT https://soundcloud.com/.../september-9.../s-X6a8C366W0K  OrcaLab 10 Sep 2021 00:44:18 PDT September 9 2021 Orcas: A50s, A54s, A23s, A25s, A42s/A94, PWD To start this summary we roll back a couple of days when Luke and Emily were at Cracroft Point as observers. The following is a description of an encounter Luke experienced while there. CP report September 7th-8th After a beautiful day filled with orcas passing CP, including an incredibly close 10 meter pass by the A25Õs, I was settling into bed when I took one last moment to be outside. To my surprise, brilliant, blue bioluminescence lit up the coastline at the edge of the cliff. I went to bed until I awoke sometime between 4 or 5 am and had a feeling I had to get back outside. I walked out on the deck at CP and to my utter disbelief a humpback whale passed by only 20 feet from the deck, lit up by the blue stars of bioluminescence and leaving a jetstream of blue sparkles in its wake. The humpback breached and then went on swimming with the stars. The whale was followed by a dolphin that was moving much faster and left a bright blue jetstream in its wake. It was a sight so beautiful it is hard to describe but the memory, so vivid and special, will stay with me for the rest of my life. Today was shrouded in mist, rain and fog so much so that the sea and sky were monochrome and the forest greens intensified against the greys. Back in the night, all was quiet until a humpback in Blackfish Sound broke the silence at 2:50am. This fellow would carry on throughout the next hour, stopping at 3:41am. The orca families of the A50s, A54s,A23s,A25s,and A42s/A94 were out of range to the east. In the midst of the humpbackÕs next effort between 4:27am and 5:35am, the orcas skittered over Strider Beach at 5:21am on their way to the west. The rub lasted about a minute but was followed by close A5 calls minutes later. Other calls, the A30s, were further offshore, all were westbound. By 6:12am, they were passing Robson Bight. Being quite spread out, some were already off Kaizumi by 6:28am. Calls continued on the Robson Bight and Strider Beach systems as the lead groups passed Kaizumi and heard at 7:38am on the Cracroft Point hydrophone. They never went further west than ÒCPÓ. Luke and Emily watched as they emerged out of the fog and began to cross towards the entrance of Blackney Pass. By this time the Lab was busy preparing for the departure of Suzie and Quin, Mattis and Sara Lynn. Suzie and Quin have been mainstays at the Lab through the last two years and this summer they dedicated their time and energy making sure that the Lab ran smoothly and that the systems performed. It has been incredible help. They are not gone forever. Hanson is home. Quin plans to be back in October while Suzie works for a local dive outfit, but their departure today is another sign that summer is quickly slipping away into autumn. We wish them well on their quick trip to Victoria, for their plans to dust off their sailboat, the Orion and sail her ÔsomewhereÓ over the next couple of weeks, and with their longer plans to travel to see family later in the year. Mattis and Sara Lynn have been our Òwork awayÓ couple and have joined in every aspect of life on Hanson Island while helping in the Lab and doing the myriad practical jobs that have been needed to be done. They are off on a camping trip. Mattis will return in October, Sara Lynn in November when they both will take up the role of winter caretaker. Megan was charged with getting everyone to Alert Bay but not before she went to CP and retrieved Luke and Emily. This was all before 9am! Setting off in the fog Megan managed well and even got to Port McNeill for gas and groceries returning home hours later after enduring the rain in the open boat. The whales, of course, had their own agendas. At 7:46am they began to file into Blackney Pass on the ebb tide. CP saw A61 just as he passed out of sight. More followed. Megan on her way to CP to get Luke and Emily saw the A23s, A42s and A50s shooting past. Three minutes later these groups were in view (sort of) of the Lab. The whales were quick, the fog thick, no chance to account for all but the large male fins offered sufficient clues. Each group, save the A54s, have males who we can rely on to stand out even in these poor conditions. As the whales neared Blackfish Sound their calls were picked up on the Flower Island hydrophone until 9:22am. A couple of hours went by. It was still foggy when the whales were heard once more starting at 11:28am. For the next four hours their calls grew gradually stronger, their echolocation more definite as they neared Blackney Pass. Taking so long probably meant that they had found something of interest in Blackfish Sound. A group of six even passed close to the remote camera just before the groups began to be seen by the Lab at 1:24pm. Again we had to peer through the fog to see anything but took most of our clues from the acoustics. We had enough clues to realise they were more or less in their groups with the A50s and A23s in front. The A25s came next with the A54s. The A42s came last. It was again quite a spread. While the first were on their way to Johnstone Strait between 1:40pm and 1:50pm others were still in Blackfish Sound. However, everyone was in the Strait by 2pm and fanning out across the Strait. Instead of going east the whales turned eventually to go to the west. At 3:28pm, Patrick heard the A42s in Blackfish Sound again. They must have immediately gone west on entering Johnstone Strait under the cover of fog and against the current. There were still calls in Johnstone Strait so this seemed to be an independent move on their part. At 3:27pm, Patrick found them off the western end of Blackfish Sound moving east. At 4:10pm, they were in the Pass headed south. They were all together and cleared by 4:26pm and afterwards took time to cross over to the Vancouver Island shore. The returning Megan reported seeing whales (this would have been the A30s, A23s and A25s) easting between Telegraph Cove and Weynton Passage. The A25s looked like they had the intention of entering Weynton. During this time Kaizumi Beach was a draw for the A42s where they soon began, at 5:55pm, a marathon rub that lasted for an hour and thirty-seven minutes, and which offered up incredible views that left us speechless. Such a special, little beach, a jewel treasured by the whales. As the A42s, and it should be noted that A66 did not participate, finished their rub at 7:32pm, they moved offshore slowly just as the A30s and the other A5 groups became vocal and approached the entrance to Blackney Pass from the west. They prepared to head back into Blackney Pass by 7:38pm. Once again the ebbing tide helped them along. In less than ten minutes the A30s, A23s and A25s were gone calling as they moved deeper into Blackfish Sound. The A42s, around 8:10pm followed. Alas, not only was it still misty it was now getting dark as well. The scopes and camera were brought in and we relied instead on our hydrophones to measure their progress into and through Blackfish Sound. Calls faded away by 9:30pm. The last few hours of the day included the beginnings of humpbacks stirring in Blackfish Sound.  Orcalab 10 Sep 2021 00:28:13 PDT