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September 28 2022 Orcas: T002B?, T060s (-T060D, T060E), T49As. T49Bs Humpbacks: Claw, Crochet, Gaurdian Pacific White-sided dolphins Our day was condensed into two and a half hours. Waking again to dense fog after another clear night and very vocal humpbacks we were all brought collectively into sharp focus with Kat’s surprising shout of “ORCA!” just before 8am. Everyone hurried into action. Cameras, scopes were quickly turned to Burnt Point. The orcas were near and so not hidden in the fog. A group of panicked sea lions clustered together stretching their necks, swirling around in the water next to the shore in a huge pack. One could sense their intense nervousness. The orcas sauntered by and began to angle in toward the sea lion haul out a short distance ahead. We counted five then later identified the distinctive T060C and the rest of his family. Missing were the two brother T060D & E but possibly T002B was there which gave an explanation to the extra whale in the group. Probably not willing to risk taking on a whole mob of sea lions and seeing no great opportunity these Bigg’s orcas carried on past. They disappeared from view at 8:14am. Dori and Jordan, who were set to leave later, were stunned like the rest of us by this close and dramatic passing. Little did we imagine that it would be repeated in even more dramatic fashion just two hours later. At 10:38am Kat again spotted orcas near to Burnt Point. The fog had cleared by then and so was not an issue. The orcas pushed forward but were temporarily stymied by the current which took them back around Burnt Point and out of sight. We found them not too far away on the Flower Island camera. Within ten minutes they were back and very close to the Hanson Island shore. They took advantage of the back eddies and rushed past. Although somewhat spread out from each other one individual was just meters offshore flanked by even closer sea lions. These Bigg’s, members of the T049A & Bs also made for the sea lion rocks occupied by many. many sea lions. The pack of agitated sea lions still paralleled the Bigg’s path all the way along Hanson Island. The Bigg’s stayed in view by moving across to the Cracroft Island shore and then turning toward Baronet Passage where we later learned they had finally found and killed a sea lion. Mission complete. The rest of our day was spent looking through the pictures carefully, completing the review of the night recordings, loading the boat for town, and saying a fond good-bye to Jordan and Dori whose hard work and endless cheerful efforts will be sorely missed. The beautifully warm sunny day entertained some rainy downpours . Jérémie declared at one point - “We have dolphins, three humpbacks, and two rainbows.” What a very complete and satisfying day!
OrcaLab
29 Sep 2022 09:15:47 PDT |
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