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August 21 2022 Orcas: A50s, A54s, A23s,T060D, T060E Humpbacks: Black Pearl, Kraken, Claw and baby, Stitch, Domino,Squiggle, Argonaut, Guardian, Cutter, plus two identified as yet Pacific White-sided dolphins We begin off the eastern end of the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve at 12:46am with the A30s who would remain vocal over the next three hours, mostly distant, sometimes closer, sometimes excited, sometimes foraging, and always seemingly in the same vicinity. When daylight was hinting at 5:33am there were suddenly clear A5 calls off of Cracroft Point. How the A5s arrived in Johnstone Strait is not clear but here they were after a long absence that seemed forever. In reality it was just over three weeks (July 28). Shari, along with Emma who was staying the night at the CP camp, listened to the blows of the small group as they initially headed east, turned back in closer to Cracroft and then righted themselves once more toward the east by 6:04am. Soon in the background of the A5 calls the A30s, who by this time had come further west probably to meet the incoming whales, were calling too. Over the next half hour neither of these groups were close to any of the hydrophones. But then by 8:15am, the A5s and the A30s now in closer proximity to each other finally neared Robson Bight and rounded Critical Point on an eventual path to the rubbing beaches beyond. Nearly an hour later, at 9:05am they began to rub at Strider beach. What a wonderful place to be together, mingle, be slow, take a rest, be undisturbed. The shoreline belonged to them alone and them alone right down to Main beach. Above and below they slid and rolled past each other all the while their calls interspersed with the ÒchuffÓ sounds of scattered pebbles. But wouldnÕt you know it, during the focused intensity of this long, long rub, T060D and his brother T060E, provided a brief interlude when they came out of the fog just south of the Lab at 10:16am and temporarily refocused our attention. They surfaced close to the Lab before taking a long dive and disappeared completely before 10:20am. These two BiggÕs orcas remarkably have been in Blackney Pass for the last three days. The rub at Strider, which had included calls happening close to Main as well, ended at 10:37am, just two hours after it began. From Strider the whales, now identified as the A23s, the A50s and the A54s, went west. Of course, this brought them back to Robson Bight. Before 11am close calls and echolocation marked the A5s approaching Critical Point. With some individuals in the Bight and others spread out across the Strait, the whales slowly progressed toward Cracroft Point while foraging. The whales travelling closer to Vancouver Island naturally crossed in front of Kaizumi beach from 11:49am to 12pm. By this time, whales were beginning to arrive off Cracroft Point as well. The A50s were closest and spent additional time foraging there. It would not be until after 1pm that the whales would entirely become free of the rip off the entrance to Blackney Pass and carry on west. They and several dolphins fanned out across the Strait and at 2:39pm were reported headed to Beaver Cove. With the whales engaged so far west this gave us a break of sorts. Always in the background are the humpbacks who visit Blackney Pass. At the beginning of their season two or three occupied the Pass most days. This number steadily has increased as the summer has progressed. Twelve different individuals transited or foraged in Blackney this day, a record of sorts for August. Kam identified, Black Pearl & Kraken, Claw & baby, Stitch, Domino,Squiggle, Argonaut, Guardian, Cutter, plus two to be still identified. Several took advantage of these northern waters for the opportunity to feed, employing different strategies to do so. Just after 5pm the A23s and A30s were back off Kaikash Creek, the entrance to Blackney Pass and Cracroft Point having turned sometime earlier. Once again the A50s were closest to Cracroft Point. A60 was mid strait with Bend. Their approach to the entrance of Blackney Pass began around 5:30pm and whales, the A50s first, began disappearing into Blackney soon after. They reappeared in our view at 5:42pm as they headed north. By 6:14pm the various groupings cleared into Blackfish Sound where they continued west. Scotty was able to report at 7:36pm that the A50s, A23s and A54s had passed the White Cliff Islets - the same time as when Shari and Megan were enjoying watching another humpback lunge feeding in the glowing sunset. It took the resident orcas a while before they would retrace their steps back through Blackney Pass and into Johnstone Strait. The first evidence of their return occurred with very faint echolocation at 9:47pm. The subsequent calls heard were also faint. Momoko, Claire, Emma and Nancy listened and reported blows in Blackney at 10:22pm. The orcas came in waves. First A30s, eventually A5s. All moved south and into Johnstone Strait and either crossed over to mid strait (and beyond) immediately or turned east. Dolphins accompanied them once again. Humpback sounds and movements filled in the rest of this canvas. Tonight was HeyliÕs, LucyÕs and SusannaÕs last evening and at dinner we made the opportunity to voice our appreciation of their efforts, hard work, enthusiasm and company over the several weeks they had been part of OrcaLab. They will be missed.
OrcaLab
22 Aug 2022 08:30:21 PDT |
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