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July 23 2022 Orcas: A54s Humpbacks: Stitch, Guardian Pacific White-sided Dolphins At midnight, the usual suspects - the A54s - were heading east through the Ecological Reserve and past Robson Bight. Their calls and echolocation, from 12:02am till 12:17, became steadily stronger as they approached the Strider beach area. Someone from the group could not resist touching in on the beach, perhaps remembering the lovely long rub from the previous day. This time the rub lasted less than two minutes. Afterwards calls were heard on the Main rubbing beach to the east as the whales continued past Strider. There was no rub at Main and the group may have continued eastward for a while longer. About 1:17am, however, their progress east came to a halt. Over the next half hour the whales reorganized themselves to return west. It took them about two hours to travel ÒupÓ the Strait, reach the entrance to Blackney Pass and go north. In no time at all they were back in Blackfish Sound. A chance encounter at 7:45am off Donegal Head by the Naiad Explorer while transporting passengers to Bond Sound for a special event informed us that the orcas were still nearby. Following the A54s is quite tricky at times as the group has the habit of going about silently so this report, and the one Jared offered later at 11:56am when he was with the A54s off Dong Chong Bay, was very welcomed and prepared us for what was to unfold next. A few minutes after JaredÕs report we located the A54s using the Flower Island remote camera. Twenty-two minutes later they were southbound in Blackney Pass. This passage was a little different from previous ones as the A54s kept a course closer to Hanson Island. This was the closest many at the Lab had seen them! Even better, the family was travelling very close together. Seventeen minutes later they cleared our view and were on their way to Johnstone Strait once again where we guessed correctly that they would eventually go for another long afternoon rub. But before they did so, on entering the Strait we followed their progress east and southeast as they gradually angled toward Vancouver Island. For the hour between 1:25pm and 2:25pm they passed Kaizumi beach and then continued east toward the Ecological Reserve. Around 4pm the Cliff camp reported that the A54s had passed the estuary of the Tsitika River. This sounded like a repeat of the day before! In another forty-five minutes they were off Strider and in for that anticipated rub. This rub lasted two hours and seventeen minutes, again very consistent to previous efforts. Strider seems to be Òthe spotÓ with little interest in the beach at Kaizumi and only moderate attention to Main beach. Eventually, just after 7pm they pulled themselves away to the west. Guessing by the calls beginning at 8:29pm, distant at first on the Kaizumi hydrophone and then beautifully clear and close on the Cracroft Point hydrophone (which is further west from Kaizumi) the A54s had most likely swung across closer to the Cracroft Island side after leaving the beaches. We caught a brief look at them as they cut close to the corner at Cracroft Point. Their calls were heard on the Parson Island hydrophone in Blackney Pass at the same time. They were in our sights by 9:04pm. In contrast to the earlier passing when going south the family was now split, an individual, a group of four and a group of three, travelling closer to the ÒfarÓ side of the Pass. They kept this formation as they cleared into Blackfish around 9:30pm and rushed west toward the glowing setting sun. The dolphins who had accompanied them since Strider darted and chatted on their way too. One final note. The twentieth anniversary of the return of Springer (A73) took place iat the Whale Interpretive Centre in Telegraph Cove from 11am to 2pm. Helena and Paul arrived unfortunately late (blame tide and whales) but still had a chance to see the tables set up by various organizations like MERS (Marine Education and Research Society), Ocean Wise, Cetus/StraitWatch, and the Double Bay Sanctuary (for Corky). A special thanks goes to Mary and Jim Borrowman and Donna Sandstorm for organizing the event.
OrcaLab
24 Jul 2022 08:23:45 PDT |
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