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August 25 2022 Orcas: A50s, A54s,A23s,?T038s Humpbacks: Claw and baby, Stitch,Quartz,Tag, Inukshuk As far as we understand, without further proof, the A23s and the A54s continued east from the eastern boundary of the Ecological Reserve. The last evidence we had were their calls off of Strider and Main beaches around midnight. Sometime before we had heard the faint calls of the A50s as they, perhaps always separate from the other two groups, stayed within audible range for the rest of the night and early morning. No calls could be clearly attributed to the other two groups - it was all seemingly A50s except for a humpback who growled, grunted and swirled next to Strider beach at 4:30am. In due course at least the A50s moved past Robson Bight, Kazumi and eventually Cracroft Point where despite the fog, A84, A72 and A108 were confirmed by Megan and Shari at 9am. Half an hour before orcas were seen on the Vancouver Island side. Curiously they were eastbound. Was this A50, A123 and A99, the other half of the A50s and afterwards did they swing across to the Cracroft Island side or were there still other groups in play? So few audio clues and lousy foggy conditions we will have to leave off with a few loose ends. However they engineered it, all the A50s left the Cracroft Point area and went through Blackney Pass starting at 9:22am. They were silent and all we could do, with no visibility whatsoever, was listen and count blows. They found their way through Blackfish by employing their echolocation, still refusing to vocalize. A report was received past 12pm that the A50s had made it to the White Cliff Islets. They were looking very social - another way of saying relaxed. Hours passed. Just past 4pm, they were back in Blackney Pass and headed south. You are correct if you have guessed that the fog by this time had lifted. Brief passing. They were out of view by 4:23pm. Once in the Strait they foraged off the entrance to Blackney Pass before scooting across to the Kaikash area by 6pm. As they headed along the Vancouver Island shoreline there was one pass over of the Kazumi beach at 6:18pm. After a moment’s hesitation the A50s resumed their path going east and at 6:49pm they were easting off Izumi Rock. We would not pick up their trail again until 8:21pm when they were approaching Robson Bight and Critical Point. Meanwhile a group of Bigg’s orcas were in Blackney Pass. First spotted heading to Blackney Pass at 6:26pm by Nancy and David as they returned in the Sonic from a town run. It would be another hour before we caught another report of Bigg’s when by Parson Light. Sea lions are beginning to haul out on the rocks by Parson Light and they did “look” nervous, aware probably of the proximity of the Bigg’s orcas moving south toward them very slowly. It was, however, a small group, too far for us to identify except to note there were up to four individuals including a very young one and no adult males. The nearby whale watching boat tentatively identified them as the T038s. They did not make much head way and in fact by 8:07pm they were seen heading further into Parson Bay. The Bigg’s eventually stepped out of Parson Bay and at 8:44pm were seen one last time mid channel heading south just past the Lab. They took an incredibly deep, long dive and were lost to the gloom of the evening light. By 8:40pm the A50s were much closer to Robson Bight. Over the next hour they remained in this vicinity. 10:24pm marked only a few more distant calls suggested perhaps another change in direction. There was a lot of boat noise. The day was nearly done, a few questions lingering.
OrcaLab
26 Aug 2022 11:48:54 PDT |
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