Thursday, October 31, 2024





October 28th - 31st 2024 Northern residents: A62s Humpbacks: Bumpy, Trinity, Cygnus, Ojos Blancos, Vulture, Sponge Bob, Argonaut, Cutter, Claw, Auger, Yahtzee, Inukshuk, Insomnia, Freckles, Ripple, Parentheses, Stitch, Chum, Moonstar, Meteorite Oh humpback whales! LetÕs talk about them first. Their numbers have been incredibly rising in Blackney Pass for the past few weeks. On October 28th, we even identified 16 individuals just out front the lab! Their blows were popping up every few seconds, which was quite overwhelming at times as weÕd have loved to account for every humpback out there but probably missed a few! These whales have been very busy getting their bellies full with small fish, most likely herring. Some of them use a trap-feeding technique where they remain stationary at the surface with their mouth open waiting for fish to come in. You can learn more about this strategy on the MERS website: https://mersociety.wordpress.com/2018/11/03/trap-feeding-a-new-humpback-feeding-strategy/ When ships come through, we often worry about these whales who are really quite busy living their lives and not necessarily aware of fast vessels. The marine traffic is not as dense at this time of year but there are still several ships passing every day at full speed. We noticed a ferry slightly diverting its course when a whale was in its path but it did not slow down. Meanwhile, the A62s have maintained a steady presence. On October 28th, they were only vocal in Johnstone Strait from 12:45pm until 1:51pm. But the next day, they were travelling east in Johnstone Strait as early as 1:45am and then rubbed at all 3 rubbing beaches on their way back west! Just before 9am, they spent 14 minutes rubbing between Main Rubbing Beach and Strider Rubbing Beach in the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve, then they had an 11 minute rub at Kaizumi Rubbing Beach around 1pm. Their calls faded in the Strait after 3pm and we thought they continued west. To our surprise, they had decided to silently take the Blackney route! At 4:18pm, we spotted them from the lab, travelling north all together. They interacted with Trinity, one of the many humpbacks present in Blackney Pass, before clearing our view at 4:41pm. After that, their calls were loud and clear in Blackfish Sound and a humpback was also singing in the same area. The A62s left our hydrophone range after 6:44pm while several humpbacks continued to sing as the night took over this beautiful windy day. On October 30th, our recorder was on all day long again, as the A62s were in Blackfish Sound from 7:50am untill 7pm. As of today though, October 31st, we have not heard them again and are seriously wondering: have they left for good?
OrcaLab
31 Oct 2024 21:33:14 PST
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Monday, October 28, 2024





October 26th - 27th 2024 Northern residents: A62s Humpbacks: Cutter, Corporal, Yahtzee, Cygnus, Trinity, Ripple, Claw, Auger, possibly Vulture and others The visit of the A23s was sweet but short, as they did not return on October 26th. As for the A62s, they were back in Johnstone Strait, as early as 5:48am. They spent the whole day moving back and forth in the Strait, spending time foraging in the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve around 8am, ignoring the rubbing beaches once more, before slowly heading west, favoring the Vancouver Island shore. Their calls faded just after 5pm. On the humpback front, October 26th was a very eventful day. First, it was still dark when we heard clear bubble net feeding calls at 7:16am on the Parson Island hydrophone! Then, as soon as the sun came up, there were humpback blows everywhere we looked! The whole day, these giants were feeding in a frenzy. At 9:03am, we observed 3 humpbacks lunge feeding close to the Cracroft Point remote camera. Later at 3:20pm, the humpback Corporal was trap feeding close to the Hanson Island shore, surrounded by hundreds of birds. As soon as the light faded, some of them started singing again, several individuals simultaneously in both Blackfish Sound and Blackney Pass. On October 27th, the A62s decided to spend the day in Blackfish Sound. They were vocal from 7:16am until just before midnight! At 3:30pm, they made an appearance in the northern part of Blackney Pass. They were travelling slowly, fighting the ebb current and finally turned back into Blackfish Sound at 3:55pm. As October comes to an end soon, weÕre reflecting on this incredible season with almost 4 months of Northern Resident presence!
OrcaLab
28 Oct 2024 13:27:28 PST
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Saturday, October 26, 2024





October 25th 2024 Northern residents: A62s, A23s Humpbacks: Inukshuk, Bumpy, Ridge, Cygnus and others Interestingly, October 25 started exactly the same way as the day before, with the A62s vocalizing in the southern entrance of Blackney Pass at 6:24am. Unfortunately, there was a lot of boat noise and it wasnÕt a pleasant recording to monitor. Humpbacks were also vocal in the same area, still awake after a busy night filled with incredible singing in what sounded like a much ÔquieterÕ ocean without the boat noise. The rest of the day would remain quite noisy on the hydrophones as the easterly winds picked up stronger and stronger, shaping the underwater sound of waves. By 7:22am, while the A62s were making their way east in Johnstone Strait, a report from Troy came in of 5 to 6 orcas with one big male rubbing at Bere Point! They headed east when they left the beach. This meant that a new group was arriving! Just before 9am, the A62s were in the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve. They foraged in the Tsitika Estuary for two hours or so. At 10:53am, their calls sounded excited and we were wondering if the new group was nearby. We were expecting this new group to acoustically Ôshow upÕ anytime now! Unbearable suspense! Drum roll! At 11:41am, Claire heard faint A5 calls in Johnstone Strait! Listening from afar, Dylan identified them as the A23s, which would match TroyÕs report of 6 orcas. They likely came in via Weynton Passage and were travelling east in the Strait. The A62s had left the Bight and were now on their way west again as their calls approached the Kaizumi Rubbing Beach at 11:54am. A few excited and frequent calls followed suggesting that both groups had met acoustically, then both the A1 (A62s) and the A5 (A23) calls faded at 12:44pm off the southern entrance of Blackney Pass. No further calls were heard after that except for a few ÒquacksÓ at 1:55pm accompanied by whistles, echolocation and brief sounds of rubbing at Kaizumi Rubbing Beach. One hour later, there was echolocation on the Parson Island hydrophone. We took a quick look at the remote Cracroft Point camera and immediately spotted orcas headed for Blackney Pass! They were traveling north with the fast ebb currents. After weeks without seeing Northern Resident orcas in Blackney Pass, we were beyond excited and looking forward to visually confirming the identity of the new group! At 3:05pm, a first male was spotted in Blackney Pass, soon joined by others. The distinctive dorsal fin of A83, of the A62s, was soon identified. Five minutes later, as he was passing Parson Light, A60, of the A23s, surfaced next to him! The last time the A23 matriline was in the area was September 13th! It was heartwarming to watch them together with the A62s from the cold and windy deck! They did a few tail slaps and interacted with a humpback before clearing our view silently into Blackfish Sound at 3:24pm, only emitting a few whistles and echolocation as they continued north. The rest of the day and night was open for humpback songs and left us wondering if the A23s had snatched the A62s.
OrcaLab
26 Oct 2024 15:35:32 PST
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Friday, October 25, 2024




October 22nd - 24th 2024 Northern residents: A62s Humpbacks: Inukshuk, Argonaut, Kailash, Ojos Blancos, Ridge, Bumpy, Freckles, Yahtzee, Moonstar, Cygnus, Quartz, Graffiti, Claw and Auger DallÕs Porpoises In the morning of October 22, there was echolocation in the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve. The A62s were foraging next to Critical Point, the eastern headland of Robson Bight. It was lovely to get a glimpse of their silhouettes as they slowly travelled west close to the Vancouver Island shoreline. Following the trend of the past few weeks, they later spent time in the rip off Cracroft Point. After 12:29pm, keeping to the Strait, they journeyed west. At 5pm, Scotty reported them easting off Telegraph Cove. We faintly heard them a short while later but it wasnÕt until the next morning at 9:11am that they were heard again, this time in Blackfish Sound. To get there, at some point during the interval, they had likely travelled out of Johnstone Strait via Weynton Passage. They were vocal for about 2 hours in Blackfish Sound before choosing to move into Weynton Passage again. They reached the Strait by 12:34pm and we spotted them near Kaikash on our Cracroft Point remote camera as they turned back west again! They remained in the Strait until just after 8pm. The next day on October 24, they were still in Johnstone Strait. By 6:29am they were off the southern entrance to Blackney Pass. We were left wondering what they had been up to during the night as they surely didnÕt travel very far away! They moved closer to the Vancouver Island side around 7:41am and traveled east for a while towards the Robson Bight (Michael Bigg) Ecological Reserve before turning back to the west again, ignoring the rubbing beaches. They were off the entrance to Blackney Pass at 11:28am westing mid Strait.Their calls faded after 1:35pm. With their calls echoing to the Main Rubbing Beach system between 3:30pm and 4:11pm they may have been moving east once more. As much as weÕd love to see them in Blackney Pass, they seem to enjoy the Strait, Weynton Passage and Blackfish Sound a lot. It has been speculated that a specific distribution of their favoured types of salmon has played into their choices of travel and focus. All the while, there has been constant humpback feeding activity in Blackney Pass along with incredible songs each night. The evening of October 24 was particularly spectacular with a very close song on the Parson Island hydrophone which mesmerized Claire and JŽrŽmie at the Lab and all those who were listening remotely. The songs of these giants are truly something special.
OrcaLab
25 Oct 2024 10:03:27 PST
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