October 21 - October 24 2021 Orcas: A34, BiggÕs Humpbacks: Cutter, Claw, Ripple, Dapple, Slash and baby Twister, Bumpy, Pacific White-sided Dolphins Going over the notes in the Lab notebooks and getting a distilled impression of these very busy days is an interesting process. After the excitement of knowing the A34s had been in the area, and not being sure that they would even return, life around the Lab refocused on the humpbacks who had, in recent days, been increasing in number here in Blackney Pass. Jim Borrowman remarked how the humpbacks who normally were hanging out near or in Weynton Passage had just vanished. We assured him that they had not all gone and that Blackney Pass was busier than ever. We have experienced this before as the humpbacks begin to shift around the area in preparation to departing for the season. Days are certainly filled with their comings and goings, their occasional moans, groans and rumblings and nights with their longer vocal efforts both in Blackfish Sound and in Johnstone Strait. Each morning we review the night recordings that reveal where and for how long they were so engaged. Each night is slightly different. On October 21, the humpbacks were busy during the early hours both in Blackfish Sound and in Johnstone Strait. Different humpbacks that were vocal at the same time in their separate locations. In the end, it was the humpback in Blackfish Sound who had the last word. Calls ended at 2:40am. At 9:19am, in the midst of some daytime humpback vocals, Bigg's orcas in Blackfish became briefly vocal till around 9:30am. Technical difficulties followed throughout the day hampering our chances of monitoring . Eventually, the hydrophones came back online and we resumed listening as usual. Just in time to tune into a rather nice but humpback session at 7:24pm. A short while later there were humpbacks in Johnstone Strait aactive from 8:07pm until 9:05pm. This ended with bubble feeding. In the early hours of October 22 there were more humpback sounds in Blackfish Sound from 12:34am until 6:13am. It was not one continuous session but there were some nice efforts at 5:55am. The day turned out to be reasonable enough (it has been a tad windy) that Megan, Emily and Mattis decided to go and retrieve the Strider Rubbing Beach surface camera. The underwater camera had previously been taken out and likewise the cameras at Kaizumi. This was in preparation for securing equipment before the full onslaught of winter storms. By 2pm they were done. They returned home and then set off to Flower Island to get that surface camera as well. After they returned it was QuinÕs turn to go down to Robson Bight and work on systems there. He took Mattis with him who must have felt, by this time, he was on one continuous boat ride. They returned and put the boat on the mooring. In hindsight this was not the best idea as the wind came up during the night and they worried about it all night long, robbing them of much needed sleep after such a busy day. In between, we listened to quite simply beautiful humpback calls, especially from 8:44pm to 9:14pm, then more at 9:53pm to 9:59pm, some Òbubbles'' at 10:16pm and then more beautiful calls from 11:21pm to past midnight. And then, at 1:04am, while the beautiful humpback continued, the A34s came back to Blackfish Sound. They were distant but unmistakably there. By 2:11am they echolocated as they approached Flower Island. By 3am, they were entering Johnstone Strait after having negotiated their way south through Blackney Pass. Humpbacks also were calling in the entrance of Blackney Pass and across the Strait. The A34s gave a few calls at Cracroft Point then headed east. A humpback did likewise and was heard both on Kaizumi and Strider. By 4:54am there were faint A34 calls on Strider. Megan had faithfully waited for their progress from Cracroft. At 5:26am, they began to rub at Strider. The rub lasted until 6:04am. 38 minutes long. After the last movement of pebbles the A34s made very clear and close calls and then turned west. The humpback continued calling off Strider as the A34 calls became more and more distant. Finally, very faint calls were heard on the Cracroft Point hydrophone at 6:49am. But it would take a while longer for them to get closer. Humpbacks continued on Cracroft now but were still on Strider and Kaizumi as well. There had to be more than one involved just as during previous nights. Then at 7:25am everything became quiet. Twelve minutes later the A34s were more definitely on the Cracroft Point hydrophone as they began to cross the entrance to Blackney Pass and continue west. As their calls grew more distant on our systems Jim BorrowmanÕs Telegraph Cove system picked up calls at 8:44am. At 9:16am Jim could see the A34s mid strait abeam Telegraph Cove. Not long after, at 9:52am, Jim reported that the A34s had turned back to the east. The calls had already become louder on Cracroft and Kaizumi as the whales engineered that turn. By 10:37am the calls had become even stronger. Megan had been following the orca blows near Vancouver Island on the remote camera. At 11:10 she noted that they were headed toward Cracroft Point. Lovely calls followed at 11:19am as the lead group moved into the entrance to Blackney Pass. By 11:22am, the A34s were in view. We believe A55, A34 and possibly her youngest, A96 came in first. They were followed, at some distance by the A67s travelling with A80. The last to arrive were the A62s. We saw four in this last group and became hopeful that this means A62 was there. Jared had been concerned that after spending an hour with them earlier that he had not seen A62. Unless someone doubled back (possible) our count came to twelve. We later poured over the pictures trying to confirm our impressions. As they moved into Blackfish Sound just before 12pm their calls became very clear and close. Unfortunately, boat noise and a brief technical issue again interfered with our listening. Fortunately, Alex was watching from her house and reported that by 1:15pm that they were opposite the entrance to Knight Inlet in the middle of Queen Charlotte Strait. The technical issue was resolved and we continued to hear distant but constant calls up to 1:18pm. Did I mention that it was a beautiful Autumn day? The sun was out, the sea was calm. Whew! We needed a sunny day. At 2:23pm Alex was surprised to see a small group of BiggÕs orcas heading south. They made a kill off the Plumper Islands at 2:37pm and then moved into Weynton Passage at 2:50pm. Jim Borrowman saw them entering the Strait at Weynton Island later at 4:24pm. Noteworthy during the evening were the humpback calls from 9:46pm to 10:03pm and from 10:08pm to 10:48pm. This brings us to October 24. There were brief humpback calls at 12:46am and then from 2:51am to 6:45am there were very distant but near nonstop humpback calls in Johnstone Strait. The A34s returned at 7:54am. They were most likely west of Blackfish Sound. However distant they sounded excited. Their calls were frequent. At 8:07am they seemed slightly closer. At 8:52am, Alex reported seeing them off Bold Head heading south. Afterwards she lost track of them as she was busy with other matters. The calls remained distant until 2:30pm when there was a definite change. They were closer! At 3pm the first of the group came into view. They took their time but their calls in Blackfish were very good as they organised their trip into Blackney. Again they came in small groupings. As the tide turned to slack just after 2pm they had that advantage going south. Once committed the groups moved efficiently through Blackney Pass and on to Johnstone Strait. The really good calls (first on Flower Island and then on Parson Island) lasted until 4:09pm. By then the lead groups were in Johnstone Strait. Again we followed them on the remote Cracroft Point camera. The majority of calls continued until 5:19pm. There was one more faint call at 5:48pm before they began calling on Kaizumi. There was no rub but the A34s seemed to be stalled nearby. The calls were mostly mid range but clear. All calls unexpectedly ended at 7:51pm. A humpback, as they will do, took over from there and continued to call on Parson Island till 8:22pm. He was probably the same who had been further out in the Strait and made the cross to the entrance to Blackney Pass. After a brief gap this humpback became briefly vocal in Blackfish Sound. Not much happened after this, just a few humpback stirrings and lots of wind!  OrcaLab 25 Oct 2021 13:31:06 PST