Thursday, August 31, 2023




August 31 2023 Northern Residents: [ I15s, I31s heard] Biggs orcas: heard in Blackfish Sound Humpback Whales: Inukshuk, Guardian and Baby, Quartz Pacific White-sided dolphins Just after 1am a humpback in Blackfish Sound let out with a pretty good set of calls. It did not last long but it was very distinctive, getting the attention of everyone near and far. At 3:10am Tomoko listening in Japan heard a very faint I31 call. Suddenly things began happening everywhere. Dolphins had already begun to chatter in Johnstone Strait in the midst of another (or perhaps the same?) humpback also now in the same locale. Ten minutes later, at 3:14am, there were very distant I15 calls with another set of dolphins in Blackfish Sound followed by now clearer and more frequent I31 calls. Previously, the evening before, the I15s and I31s had followed the A23s to the west in Johnstone Strait around 8pm. This begged the question - had they taken all this time (7-8 hours) to travel the distance from Telegraph Cove to the Òtop end of Blackfish Sound via Weynton Pass? Perhaps they were reluctant to leave. When their calls faded around 4: 15am they must have continued into Queen Charlotte Strait where, in still slow form, they lingered even more. Kate could hear them on her Bere Point hydrophone at 7:30am and at 9am they were still there. Dense fog prevented her from seeing them but she estimated from the strength of their blows that they were about 3 miles offshore. They disappeared shortly afterwards. Neither of us heard any A5 calls so it is not understood what happened to the A23s. The humpback who had been in Johnstone Strait with the dolphins kept up a presence for an hour after the orcas disappeared from Blackfish Sound. After 5:17am it became ÒquietÓ and it would remain so all day. Focus naturally shifted to observing the humpbacks in Blackney Pass. Inukshuk came by in the morning fog close to the Hanson Island shore and in the later afternoon when the fog had disappeared Guardian and her baby showed up with Quartz not far away. The uneventful day had slipped by in a relaxed sort of way in the absence of busy orcas. As the dark settled in and the wind began to rise, Biggs orcas called briefly around 8:45pm in Blackfish Sound adding a final short entry in the book. 
OrcaLab
01 Sep 2023 08:35:26 PDT
Posted by at No comments:



August 30 2023 Northern Residents: A23s, I65s,I27s, I35s, ?I04s, ?I33s Biggs orcas: T049As Humpback Whales: Quartz Pacific White-sided dolphins A pretty straightforward day: A Humpback making ÒnoisesÓin Blackfish Sound throughout the early morning hours; Resident orcas; a group of Biggs orcas and of course dolphins, lots of dolphins. Now the details. The humpback was active from 2:25am until approximately 4am, - they do seem to be getting their voices ready for the Fall. The Resident orcas came back from eastern Johnstone Strait where they had spent the rest of yesterday and most of this dayÕs morning. At 8:13am Patrick relayed that ten orcas were westbound near Yorke Island in the Sayward region of the Strait. By 11:29am, very faint calls were detected on the Main rubbing beach hydrophone. More than an hour later (12:51pm) a group of orcas was reported heading west from Naka Creek. Quite amazing to think that the reach of the Main beach hydrophone extends that far east! The dolphin calls started not long afterwards. It took a while longer for the A23s to reach the eastern boundary of the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve where the Cliff Research group saw them at 1:47pm. It was 2:17pm when they touched the Main rubbing beach briefly. Just before this occurred the T049As were seen further west at 2:10pm near Kaikash beach. They were also headed west. The A23s passed Strider beach without bothering to rub. They were fairly spread out and had dolphins alongside them as they passed. By 2:30pm, they had disappeared to the west. Attention then shifted back to the Main beach where ÒGÓ clan calls started to be heard. From several previous reports there were several groups making their way west from the Cracroft island shore to Vancouver IslandÕs. With the help of the remote camera a line of orcas offshore proceeded west then made a right angle turn towards the rubbing beaches arriving first at Main at 3:30pm then travelling on to Strider beach a couple of minutes later. There was a very good pass underwater by a couple of the west bound orcas. These I15s became very involved at Strider. Their rub began at 3:35pm and did not end until 3:55pm. Their calls at times were so clear and loud that they echoed back to the Main beach hydrophone. Distant I31s were also heard during this session. The I31s, in reverse of the day beforeÕs parade, were following the I15s and the A23s west and would soon arrive for their turn at the beaches after the I15s moved on. Hard to understand what the dolphins are playing at. They come right in with the orcas at the beaches and are very energetic around them. The orcas seem to respond by moving away offshore then turn back. Sometimes this works and the dolphins ease off but the dolphins seem undeterred most of the time and will carry on flanking the orcas to and fro. The dolphins donÕt ever rub but their body movements through the water create loud water noises at times. At 3:59pm the I31s (specifically the I35s at first) began to rub . Again the orcas looked as if they were playing dodge with the dolphins and this rub was over by 4:08pm. As the orcas streamed past the beaches there would be another quick touch down and then a longer effort from 4:19pm until 4:25pm. A young sea lion poked his head up and watched as the orcas and the dolphins left to the west. Disturbing news was posted that around 3pm a large fuel spill had occurred around the Telegraph Cove area. The westbound T049As were nearby by 3:25pm and the Resident orcas would advance in that direction eventually. Jared Towers, who was out on the water, went by the area later in the afternoon and commented that the gasolene smell was very bad between Telegraph Cove and Alert Bay but that there was no sheen on the water. Before the last rub ended at 4:25pm the A23s had maintained their sizable lead passing Kaizumi and carrying on to the west. The I15s and the following I31s would not get there until around 5:15pm by which time they were quite spread out with groups favouring both shores and mid strait. By 7pm, the lead Resident orcas had arrived off Telegraph Cove with others headed in that direction from across the Strait. Their calls faded soon after 8pm. This is where events of the day ended. A hot shower and sauna were next on the agenda. 
OrcaLab
31 Aug 2023 10:48:45 PDT
Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, August 30, 2023




August 29 2023 Northern Residents: I33s, I35s, I04s, I27s, I65s, A5 calls heard Humpback Whales: Pacific White-side dolphins YesterdayÕs thunderstorm with its so welcomed rain seemed to wipe the slate clean and bring new life to the Johnstone Strait area. Always harbingers of a sort, dolphins chatted off the far end of the Ecological Reserve from 12:40am until 12:52am and then became distant. Even though the rest of the night was uneventful, change was happening far to the west. Dawn opened to a misty/ smokey morning with two humpback whales travelling slowly in the fog towards the entrance of Blackney Pass at 7am. After a bit of dolphin in Blackfish Sound the orca reports began. Five orcas in Blackfish Sound were headed east. A brief burst of calls and echolocation at 11am announced that ÒG clan orcas were in the neighbourhood. The distant glimpse of two orcas offered insufficient clues as they corrected their movement toward Weynton Pass. Meanwhile, near Kelsey Bay, in the eastern reaches of Johnstone Strait, four unidentified orcas were seen travelling west. At the same time, Kate, at her Bere Point camp, had two other groups come from the west and go in for a brief rub before continuing on into Trinity Bay to the east. She looked at her photos and identified the I65s, I27s and other members of the I15 family. It was Jim BorrowmanÕs turn next. At 11:50am the I33s entered Johnstone Strait from Weynton Passage. They were followed at 12:18 by the rest of the I31 family, the I35s. It was not clear if the I68s were there as well. So by now Johnstone Strait was quite crowded by a parade of whales. The first task at hand was to follow the I31s eastward. Just after 1pm they were mid strait approaching Kaikash Creek. They were moving quickly. As they neared Kaizumi beach to the east at least two had moved closer to the Vancouver Island shore with the intention of going for a rub. The rub lasted until 1:22 pm and involved five individuals. From there, the I31s carried on eastward. The Cliff Research site opposite Robson Bight on Cracroft Island reported their progress to Critical Point at the eastern end of Robson Bight. The whales as we had witnessed on the remote cameras were very spread out. It was now 2:30pm and the I31s were proceeding toward the rubbing beaches. Curiously though they only did a cursory rub at 2:49pm and shifted along to the Main beach where they did not rub either despite their clear and close calls and echolocation. There was a lot of echoing of calls between the two beaches which are in fairly close proximity to each other. By 3:03pm some were ready to commit to a longer, more definite effort at Strider beach. The rub went until 3:30 during which we suspected that the rest of the I31s had caught up to the lead whales who we thought to be the I33s who had already moved on. Eventually, this entire group left to the east. In the next while, a large group of dolphins, favouring the Cracroft Island side, travelled east. Soon after it became apparent that the I15s had arrived in the Strait after taking Weynton Pass like their other ÒGÓ clan members. It was now 4:30pm. It was difficult to assign the few A5 calls heard from this time on. The last sighting of the A23s was yesterday evening when they travelled east past the Boat Bay camp. Was this them returning or had unidentified A25s accompanied the I15 groups into the area? Just too few calls. This was a wait and see, Almost an hour after arriving in the Strait, the I15 groups closed in on the Kaizumi beach area. But they did not rub. Were they just not interested or were they distracted? Once past they made an interesting detour offshore towards other orcas being followed by rushing dolphins. Together they turned inshore once again when past Izumi Rock and resumed going forward toward the Ecological Reserve. A boat had been following them and had actually come in between individuals when the whales did this odd manoeuvre. A5 calls picked up around 6:10pm. By 6:49pm whales were approaching Strider and two minutes later a rub started. This rub, which would have many phases and involve different individuals, really lasted until 8:30pm. The intervals were: 6:51pm to 6:56pm; 7:12pm to 7:40pm; 7:49pm to 7:50pm; 8:01pm to 8:02pm and finally 8:22pm tp 8:30pm. It was noted that sea lions at 6:58pm were amongst the orcas and that at 7:49pm many dolphins (who had followed the orcas from the west) crowded the scene. The orcas dealt with it by going offshore for a moment or two before returning. It was determined that the I15 families, like their I31 predecessors, travelled east from the Ecological Reserve. Their calls faded away by 8:38pm. Only a lone vocal humpback figured during the next portion of the night. At 10:37pm, this humpback made a few quite lovely deep and guttural vocalisations somewhere not far from the Parson Island hydrophone. It was over far too soon leaving only annoyingly persistent loud boat noise to shape the soundscape. We bid Hannah and her family good-by earlier in the day. It was a short but sweet visit. On their way to Telegraph Cove they encountered the incoming I31s. Paul, usually so careful to avoid whales, had not been aware they had already come into Johnstone Strait when he departed. Hannah had delayed the departure in the hope that the whales were going to drop into Blackney Pass and as it was taking too long they left. It was a bit of a surprise to say the least that they saw whales on their way. Fortunately the Warden boat was able to alert them and Paul stopped the boat and waited for the whales to pass. As night fell the near full moon brightened the surrounding clouds and spilled light on to the ocean below. Later we learned that JŽrŽmie and Claire made it back to France! Their journey and this night was almost done. 
OrcaLab
30 Aug 2023 10:18:50 PDT
Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, August 29, 2023




August 28 2023 Northern Residents: A23s, unidentified group Humpbacks : Fallen Knight, Inukshuk, Quartz, Guardian and baby possibly Pacific White-sided dolphins The last report of the A42s and the Bs, and possibly the I16s and A23s was from Kate who heard their calls near Bere Point just after midnight. At the lab it was an evening of silence on the hydrophones, except of course for boat noise. Just before 8am there was echolocation on the Flower Island hydrophone and at 8:18am A60 was seen heading south at West Pass with the rest of the A23s closer to our side opposite White Beach Pass. There were a few N3 calls, but for the most part they were very quiet. At 8:30am they were spread out in 3 groups from Parsons Light to Parson Island with A60 and A95 in the lead. By 8:45am they had cleared the view of the Lab as they headed towards Johnstone Strait. They angled towards the middle of the Strait between Cracroft and the Sophia Islands. The A5 calls on the Kaizumi hydrophone indicated this movement across the Strait. Due to the amount of smoke in the air it was difficult to see the A23s on the remote camera until they were near Izumi Rock at 9:30am. At 10:43am the Cliff Research site reported the A23s approaching Critical Point (the eastern headland of the Robson Bight). A60 was a bit offshore from the rest of his group the whole time they were easting through Robson Bight. When his family went in for a rub at Strider Fife (A60) did not rub but crossed over to the Cracroft Island side. At 10:50am the rubbing started on Strider, lots of chuffs (displacement of the pebbles), and calls, beautiful footage over the camera and live on www.explore.org. This rub lasted until 11:27am when the orca made a turn back to the west. A60 went under the Cliff on Cracroft Island headed west at 12:21pm. It was 12:45pm before the rest of the A23s approached Kaizumi beach along with a group of Pacific White-sided dolphins. A60, still separated from the group, continued to travel closer to Cracroft Island headed now towards the entrance of Blackney Pass. He and the rest on the other side continued for a while longer to the west. At some point the majority of the group circled around and negotiated a turn back towards the entrance of Blackney Pass along with A60. By 2:30pm the A23s were once again going through Blackney, this time to the north, with A60 leading the way. They were directly in front of the Lab by 2:40pm, mid way, with at least 3 boats following. At 2:50pm they cleared to the north, separated into 3 groups. Soon they were on the Flower Island camera, spread out in Blackfish Sound, with a group of over 40 dolphins. By 3:15pm there were no calls and they were no longer visible. Out of view for some time, they turned back to the south and were now once again in front of the Lab by 4:30pm, not a single call had been heard! As was the theme for the day, A60 was leading, with the rest of the A23s in a tight group, travelling very slowly in a resting line. This was also an entire day of thunder and lightning, very dramatic, but this did seem to have any impact on the whales at all. At one point A60 joined his family, and when this happened they suddenly changed direction that only lasted for a few breaths. Then, with A60 in the group, they continued in slow motion, resting and travelling very relaxed, making long dives, coming to the surface for a few breaths, then back down, side by side. At 5:50pm they cleared into the entrance of Blackney Pass but this time travelled west on the Cracroft remote camera. At some point they changed their minds and a report at 8:10pm from Cliff confirmed that the A23s were easting past their Boat Bay camp, close to the Cracroft shore. We expected to hear calls on one of the rubbing beaches to follow, but the only sound we heard was the continuing thunder, followed by lightning, lasting until 10pm, then all was quiet. 
OrcaLab
29 Aug 2023 13:21:52 PDT
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)