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No calls but orcas nearby
August 15 2022 Orcas: A50s, A54s Humpbacks: Stitch, Ridge, Inukshuk, possibly Guardian Middle of August - how did that happen already? By now, we are well into the routine that the A30s are providing, and we are thoroughly enjoying their extended rubs and beautiful, familiar calls. They had gone out west before the night ended, and came back in the early hours of the morning by 3:40am. Their foraging efforts and calls grew gradually louder, until we could hear the blows outside at 4:34am. Given how the day panned out, it is likely that just the A54s had returned this time. They moved into the Strait after 5am, and gave only a few calls as they peeled off to the east. Loud echolocation and calls around Critical Point alerted us to their presence in Robson Bight at 7:11am, and they began to clear the point towards the beaches. There was no rub, however, and they milled offshore in the fog before ultimately turning back to the west. By 9:12am they had made it to Kaizumi and, again, did not rub but continued past the beach, foraging and calling to one another. Back at the lab, Claire was giving a photography workshop when some Bigg’s popped up around Parson Bay at 12:22pm - the perfect opportunity to put those new skills to practice! T019 and T019B were over on the far shore, travelling south. Meanwhile, a group of Dall’s porpoises passed close to the lab heading in the opposite direction. They would not serve as the Bigg’s lunch! We watched the T019 pair for a while and it seemed like they were dipping into Baronet Passage as their fins became smaller and smaller in our view. A report just before 4pm told us that they had made it to the Strait and were heading to the east. The A54s had made a turn, and were back in the Bight - foraging yet again - at 1:37pm. Eat, rub, rest, repeat! The A50s - absent for the day until now - finally showed their fins in Blackney Pass, as they passed fairly close to our shore at 2:20pm. They were altogether as a group, the ever-growing fins of A84 (Klaoitsis) and A99 (Alder) more prominent with each passing day. They made it into the Strait around 2:40pm and began foraging session in the tide rip off Cracroft Point that would last a few hours. FInally, the A54s decided it was time for a good rub and they began at Strider at 2:29pm. The rub was beautiful - especially with our newly–cleaned underwater cam - and we enjoyed delightful footage above and below the waves, alongside their calls. They stayed for over an hour, with a few brief rub from a some individuals at Main during that time, too. Shortly after 4pm, once they had had their fill of belly scratches, the A54s moved back to the west, arriving at Kaizumi by 6:21pm. One rub from one orca is all we heard, before - surprise, surprise - they turned east again!I The A54s sure have put in a lot of miles going back-and-forth during their time here. By this time, the A50s had finished their forage and were also tracking east, closer to the Cracroft shore. The two easting groups mirrored each other on different sides of the Strait, and a few of the A54s came for another brief Strider rub at 8:10pm. With a final “turn” for the day, all whales headed west, this time dipping into Blackney. They passed Megan, Shari, Heyli and Freddy at Cracroft Point shortly before 10pm, then the lab in the darkness twenty minutes later. They sounded spread out. We counted their blows until we could hear them no more at 11pm, relying then on their tapering calls tracking west through Blackfish Sound until they fell silent. Finally, we can say that their move to the west was to pick up new groups. But that will have to wait until tomorrow’s instalment!
Suzie, OL
16 Aug 2022 12:49:10 PDT |
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