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September 13 2024 Northern Residents: A54s, A62s, A23s, A25s, I04s, I65s, [A42s plus A94 in Salish Sea] BiggÕs orcas: T109A2s Humpbacks: Freckles and Baby, Quartz, Ridge, Squiggle Pacific White-sided dolphins Our guess as to what the orcas would do next the previous evening turned out to be correct. The groups did return to Johnstone Strait. But it took a while. There were still distant calls in Blackfish Sound at 12:12am briefly. An hour went by before we heard anything more when we realised that at least an A5 group had made it back. Not yet enough clear acoustic information to say which group. Another hour was to pass before we realised that they already had some I15 company travelling far enough out in the middle for the Critical Point hydrophone to pick up their calls. Around 3am, the A54s became vocal too. Lots of boat noise compromised our listening abilities. When this partially cleared the whales were west of Robson Bight. They had made some progress but as to where each group was inconclusive. After 6am, that began to change when the orcas finally began to approach Robson Bight. By now Tomoko had identified the A5 calls as belonging to the A25s. The I15 group had drawncloser to Strider by 6:30 am. None of this Resident activity seemed to distract Tomoko, who is in Japan, from keeping an eye on the remote base camera via explore.org. She noticed a small group of 4 individuals passing the Lab to the north mid channel at 6:49am. The Lab was really surprised. They had not seen these whales and it was not for lack of keeping a watchful eye on the Pass. These whales were silent and their blows so quiet that they passed undetected in the still grey morning light. By 7:04am, the Residents were becoming excited. Through yet more boat noise we could hear them closer to Critical Point off Robson Bight. At 7:14am there was lots of echolocation on Strider but no rub just yet. The I15 group who had been nearest Strider had continued east. About a half hour later the whale watchers reported seven Resident orcas off the eastern boundary and now coming west. Calls of the I15s became loud and excited and a rub occurred from 8:06am until 8:09am. A second surprise for the day. The T109A2s, consisting of four individuals, went north close to the Lab at 8:33am. This time the Lab was Òon itÓ, getting good identification pictures. The question remained were these the same BiggÕs as the ones at 6:49am? The numbers and profile of the group were compelling but their travel in the same direction was confusing. If the same whales, then they must have slipped by again after the first pass. This time they cleared our view by going around Burnt Point at 8:35am. The Residents, meanwhile, were still calling and echolocating vigorously on the Critical Point hydrophone from 8:37am. Calls then stopped at 8:50am and resumed as both faint & distant at 9:31am. But it became clear, the I15 group was now approaching Kaizumi and before their rub started at 10:07am their calls had become loud and clear. The rub ended within three minutes and they continued west. The whale watchers were, at this time, watching the T109A2s nearing the Plumper islands still going west. The Residents were also still westbound and as they did so their calls came onto the Cracroft Island systems around 10:35am and then onto the Parson Island system as the whales crossed the area opposite the entrance to Blackney Pass. They did not come in but carried on to the west and into Weynton Pass. Scotty reported seeing the A62s, A23s, and I4s heading north into Weynton Pass at 11:34am. We still could hear A5s in the Strait at 12:12pm and surmised this to be the A25s following behind. The result of all this movement was that all the groups left the Strait. We soon heard the A54s, A25s and possibly the I65s in Blackfish Sound by 12:50pm. They would continue to be heard distantly until 2:52pm as they moved further into Queen Charlotte Strait. One last BiggÕs report. At 1:21pm the same T109A2s journeyed back to Blackney. They came quickly and close to the Lab and disappeared to the south in a hasty six minutes while taking characteristically long dives. Had their turn around been influenced by hearing the Residents come out of Weynton Pass earlier? Quite possibly. With the departure of the orcas and no humpback vocal efforts, the rest of the day and night was strangely uneventful. We were left hoping this would soon change!
OrcaLab
14 Sep 2024 16:23:51 PDT |
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September 12 2024 Northern Residents: A54s, A62s, A23s, A25s, I04s, I65s, [A42s plus A94 in Salish Sea] Humpbacks: Ridge, Squiggle, Quartz, Freckles Pacific White-sided dolphins Before the early hours of September 12 the stage was set for some changes to the Resident orcas usual patterns. The A62s had previously come in via Weynton just as others went into Blackfish Sound and then backtracked through Blackney only to re-enter the Strait. Their vocalizations provided enough clues for us to understand these broad movements. But it was not going to remain simple. By 4:36am, the A30s (aka the A54s) were back in Blackfish with an A5 group, possibly the A25s. There is no clear path as to how they got there. The A62s were still in the Strait with an I15 group, probably the I65s and most likely the A23s stayed too. This status quo was maintained for about an hour. Then without explanation the A54s were heard on Local Centre located off the Lab. Had they responded to the presence of the A62s and slipped into Blackney hoping for a better connection? Regardless, the shifting A54s ended up once again back in Blackfish Sound for the time being. Of course, the whales may see this all quite differently. The different spaces, Johnstone Strait, Blackney Pass, Weynton Pass, Blackfish Sound and even Queen Charlotte Strait are all part of their territory. In orca terms, if in any of these locations, they are not really far away from each other. The acoustic windows offered by the two Passes are a great help. Orcas coming to the entrance of Blackney or Weynton can, and do, communicate over many kilometers, hearing perhaps all the way to Queen Charlotte Strait, keeping in touch. The two A5 groups have recently been on different tracks. The A25s had already shown that they were not always in step with the A23s. One one occasion, they left the others and went very far to the east. Recently, they have been seen in closer proximity with the I4s and the A23s with the recently returned A62s. The independently minded I65s went for a rub at Strider at 8:23am. Ten minutes later they went east. Then came yet another unexpected move. At 9:44am, the A75s (of the A54s) were seen off Big Bay on Hanson Island going east! The A54s were back in the Strait after coming through Weynton Pass. Over the next hour there was a mix of A54, A5 and I15 calls as the I4s and the A25s had also left Blackfish Sound with the A54s back to Johnstone Strait. Claire best describes what happened next. ÒWe started hearing close A5 calls on our Parson Island hydrophone at 10:38 untill 11:05 indicating that members of the A5 Pod were likely in the lead and possibly on their way north into Blackney Pass. A female and young one came into our view at 11:01 but soon turned back south towards Cracroft Point. At about the same time, we could hear I15 (11:07-11:57), A30 (11:48) and A5 (11:43) calls moving back and forth between our Parson Island and our Cracroft Point hydrophones. Meanwhile, the I65s had come west far enough to have a rub at Kaizumi for about 15 minutes. We could also hear A5 calls and echolocation further east in Robson Bight at 11:39, this was probably the A23s. At 12:03, the A54s and I4s slowly left the entrance of Blackney Pass and made a move to the north. They were quite spread out, in small groups of 2 or 3 individuals and traveled on the far side. We could easily identify I76 and I4 as well as A118. As for the other members of the A54s, their small clean fins make them hard to identify from so far away. But their vocals helped us to know who they were! After the A54s and I4s cleared into Blackfish Sound at 13:03, we could still hear faint A5 calls at 13:19 on Local Centre, our hydrophone right in front of the lab. All eyes on deck were looking for the whales making these calls but they could not locate them. How could we miss a male such as A61? At 13:28, close A5 calls and echolocation were heard at Kaizumi and we wondered if these were the A23s after leaving the Bight. Soon after, some of the mystery was revealed. At 13:29, A5 calls moved to Blackfish Sound which meant that there were some A5 whales in Blackney Pass who had gone north even though we couldnÕt see them, but then a repetitive A5 call could also be heard on our Parson Island hydrophone, covering the southern entrance of Blackney Pass, at 13:52. This repetitive call seemed to belong to a single whale and thatÕs when A61 appeared at 13:57! He was traveling fast towards Blackfish Sound where the rest of his family, his niece A85 and her baby, were calling! As soon as their calls were in range of each other, Surge slowed down in Blackney Pass for a bit of foraging before clearing our view at 14:23 into Blackfish Sound, where we hoped he soon reunited with Cordero and Twilight.Ó And what happened next? Here is a short rundown. The I65s returned to Strider for a rub at 3:02pm. It was a short four minute rub and this time its members went west soon after. A25 and A54 calls were heard once again in Blackfish at 3:07pm. These calls continued through 3:53pm and again from 4:17 to 5pm. There was another rub at Strider between 3:53pm and 4:03pm. A34 calls were heard at 5:48pm mid Johnstone Strait. Rubs at Main rubbing beach and Strider occurred between 6:05pm and 6:16pm. The westbound orcas called from 6:26pm until 6:50pm. After that there were close A23 calls off the entrance to Blackney Pass and orcas came into Blackney Pass by 8:04pm and headed north. At 9:06pm 5+ more blows headed north. Finally, and once again, the orca families were back on the same page! The last calls at 10:46pm were faint leading us to wonder if another turn into Weynton Pass was in the works!
OrcaLab
14 Sep 2024 09:32:31 PDT |
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