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No calls but orcas nearby
August 3 2022 Orcas: A50s, A54s, T137s The A30s hung by the beaches for a while after midnight, lingering in the eastern range of our ears, before coninuting further east and out of range by 2:35am. They did not stray far. We heard them coming back west at 5:20am, and a few individuals came in for a brief rub at Main and Strider Beaches by 8:48am. By 10:27am they were visible from Boat Bay, all trouping west mid-Strait: A50s in the lead and A54s in tow. Meanwhile, a report of Bigg’s came in from the Port McNeill area, as the T137s were approaching Alert Bay at 10:14am. By 10:43am they were off Telegraph Cove, and at 12:52pm we received the news that they were close to Kaizumi and the Vancouver Island shore. Deep dives made them very tricky to spot, but we believe they continued straight on to the east. Megan and Shari - now fully settled at the platform of Cracroft Point - could see the A50s approaching with the A54s behind just before 11am. They were moving fairly quickly, and although we caught some foraging behaviour, they were decidedly heading into Blackney Pass. By 11:43am the lab had the first fins in their sights, as the A50s and a few of the A54s came first, with A84 (Klaoitsis) in the lead. They were quite far over the other side of the channel, but just good enough to ID and keep track of. The tailing A54s were in view at 11:55am and they, slightly closer to the Hanson shore, sped past after their cousins. The groups moved over to the Swanson shoreline as they cleared our view, and we caught some lovely footage on our remote Flower Island camera. Unfortunately, several boats were on scene and one small skiff was particularly persistent on the travelling whales. The two groups travelled west, dipping in to Queen Charlotte Sound for a little while - listening for oncoming whales, perhaps? They were sighted just east of the Penfold islands at 2:16pm, but by 5:50pm were back in our area again at the north end of Weynton Passage. They slipped into the pass and had reached western Johnstone Strait by 7pm. Here, the groups diverged, as the A50s hugged the Hanson shore and the A54s favoured Vancouver Island. As the A54s neared Kaizumi we were hoping for a rub, but they passed by offshore on their determined eastward trajectory around 8:18pm. Meanwhile, the A50s were off Cracroft Point and took a turn back into Blackney for the second time today at 8:56pm! For about 30 minutes we tracked them through our view, the hazy rain fog forcing us to rely on our ears to listen for their blows. They remained in Blackfish Sound for the next few hours, waiting for their counterparts to catch up! Whatever their reason, the A54s had decided that a brief forage in Robson Bight and a rub was in order, as they silently slipped into Strider at 10:30pm. They made few calls and only stayed for 20-minutes or so, before heading back to the west to join the others - but that is for tomorrow’s update! A rather ‘simple’ day from our perspective, but no doubt another day of essential foraging, socialising and family time for the A30 groups whom we know so well.
Suzie, OL
04 Aug 2022 20:50:03 PDT |
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