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Superb sounds!!
August 10 Orcas: A50s, A54s, T069s, CA216s Humpbacks: Stitch, Ridge Today is what we’d describe as quite a Bigg day (!) with many interesting stories that unfolded. For the first time in a while, the Northern Residents did not steal too much of our focus, as their movements were very slow and traceable back-and-forth in the Strait. The A30s did not go far, with at least a few members coming in for a brief rub at Strider and then Main beach just after midnight. Their calls were soft and persisted on-and-off for the remainder of the night as they moved offshore to the east. This time, they did not disappear for long, and had made a turn back to the west by 8am. Previous volunteer Jenn, who was camping at Naka Creek just east of the Reserve, saw a group pass by her and on to the rubbing beaches at 8:25am. They would continue west and have a brief rub at Strider at 9:12am, before continuing west to forage in the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve. For most of the morning and afternoon, our focus was then diverted to several groups of Bigg’s orcas in the area. It started with a report at 8:30am of two Bigg’s males heading down Village Channel from Knight Inlet. By 10:51am we could see them over on the very far shore by Parson Island - T060D and T060E. They made their way into the Strait and west, as the A30s were off Kaizumi, angling over to Cracroft Point. Here, the day got very exciting! At 12:40pm We received a report of two Californian Bigg’s orcas at the Stephenson Islets, heading to Pearse Passage. One of them was totally white! A quick scramble to the online ID guides placed them as CA216C and her white 2019 calf, CA216C1 - also known as ‘Frosty’. By 1:27pm they had turned back to the east at the entrance of Johnstone Strait, and previous assistant Elysanna Durand could hear Bigg’s calls on the Telegraph Cove hydrophone. Around this time, they were travelling with members of the T060s and the T069s, but the CA216s peeled off into Beaver Cove and reportedly got stuck! A video circulating later in the day does indeed show the pair very close to shore, with mum lifting her head and fluke out of the water. Exactly how ‘stuck’ they were is unknown, but they stayed for a while before eventually making it out of the cove. Meanwhile, the T060s and T069s were hunting at the Pearse reefs before eventually heading north. Phew! Back to the Northern Residents, and the A30s had been slowly westing in Johnstone Strait towards the groups of Bigg’s, but at 1:37pm they turned somewhere around Big Bay. Too much excitement for them, perhaps? They tracked back to the east in a beautiful resting line as they passed Megan and Shari on the Cracroft Point platform. They passed Naka Creek at 5:06pm and that is the last we heard of them for the day. The CA216s slinked west and out of the area, passing Alert Bay, around 4:45pm. It is always incredibly interesting when we see California Bigg’s up here. Presumably, they have not got the memo that we consider them to be local to California and have come up with their own way of discerning their habitat! Our day ended with who we believe to be T060D and T060E again in Blackney Pass, very fleetingly in our view before heading back to Blackfish Sound shortly before 7pm. We did see their fins on Flower Island camera for a short while, before they dived deep and headed off into the sunset. On land, we welcomed back long time supporter and dear friend Rob Lott. He is visiting with us for a few days and we are thrilled to have him here. Rob first volunteered with us back in 1990, and has worked for one of our long-standing partners - Whale and Dolphin Conservation - since 2005. Welcome, Rob, and thanks for the gin!
Suzie, OL
11 Aug 2022 14:11:04 PDT |
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