Tuesday, November 05, 2024





November 2nd - 3rd 2024 Northern Residents: A23s BiggÕs orcas: T002Cs, T068Cs, T075Bs Humpbacks: Freckles, Argonaut, Ridge, Moonstar, Cutter, Ace, Insomnia, Corporal, Sponge Bob, Cygnus, Vulture, Parentheses, Inukshuk, Trinity, Ridge, Commander What an incredible season 2024 has been! (And weÕre hoping itÕs not over.) It all started with the A23s and the A42s on July 3rd. And as of November 3rd, with a visit of the A23s to the rubbing beaches, we can now say that we have recorded 4 months of nearly continuous Northern Resident presence this year! But letÕs rewind a little to November 2nd. At 5:30pm, we observed a group of BiggÕs orcas come in from Blackfish Sound. Six whales with small fins were travelling close together, followed by a large male and then another group of 3 whales with small fins. None of them had distinct markings which didnÕt help us with identification, but thanks to Finwave, weÕve had confirmation that they were members of the T075Bs, T002Cs and T068Cs. They travelled to the Parson Island shoreline, close to a popular sea lion haul out. Through the rain and dark light, we managed to see them hunting actively. They soon started calling on the Parson Island hydrophone as well as breaching, spy hopping and tail slapping! The feast was being shared. We lost track of them after 6:13pm as the light faded. The night went on with uninterrupted humpback songs close to our hydrophones in both Blackney Pass and Blackfish Sound. In the early morning of November 3rd, we spotted the humpbacks Argonaut, Inukshuk, Vulture, Trinity and Cutter super close to the lab, slowly travelling south together along the shore. These individuals have been in Blackney Pass continuously for days now and it only took a quick look at their dorsal fins to know who they were! What a beautiful morning to watch their blows float still in the air as they moved on away from our view. At 9:25am, we heard faint BiggÕs calls in Johnstone Strait and wondered if they were the ones we saw the day before. Nothing else happened after that in the acoustic ocean world until 4:59pm when we heard the unquestionable sound of orcas rubbing against the pebbles! ÔChuffsÕ! These chuffs were loud and clear on the Strider Rubbing Beach hydrophone. We quickly turned on the remote camera and almost immediately saw A95 as well as A60 rubbing with the rest of their family, the A23s! They didnÕt produce any calls and we were so grateful for this camera that allowed us to identify them visually! They continued to the west in the young night and it didnÕt take long for the humpbacks to start singing!
OrcaLab
05 Nov 2024 11:01:58 PST
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Saturday, November 02, 2024





November 1st 2024 Northern residents: A23s Humpbacks: Cutter, Vulture, Trinity, Argonaut, Moonstar, Sponge Bob and others Below the surface, the acoustic world was once again vibrating with humpback songs for most of the night. Multiple individuals sang in all locations surrounding Hanson Island until the first light of day. Just as Claire was listening to these songs while finishing to review the night recordings, she heard ÔchuffsÕ on the lab speakers! A surprise rub! It started at 9:57am at Kaizumi and lasted for 22 minutes. The whales only emitted N3 calls, used by all A Clan orcas, but we needed to hear more to know who they were! An hour after the first ÔchuffÕ, part of the mystery was uncovered as the whales started to vocalize more! We immediately identified their distinct A5 calls! They slowly continued east towards the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve, while echolocating sporadically along the way. Meanwhile, at 12:02pm, Jeremie spotted 4 orcas in Blackney Pass in front of the sea lion rocks just south of the lab. They looked like BiggÕs and seemed to be foraging in a bait ball with at least 3 humpbacks. Were they ÒpretendingÓ to be Resident orca-like so that the 75 sea lions hauled out on the rocks wouldnÕt be suspicious? Were they using the humpbacks as cover? This went on for about 30 minutes until the sea lions realized that there was a trick, they suddenly panicked and most of them jumped into the water! On multiple occasions, the BiggÕs separated in 2 groups, 2 were near the sea lion rocks and 2 others were a bit further away. Was this another hunting technique? This was the moment the A5 pod orcas decided to start rubbing at Strider Rubbing Beach! With one hand writing notes and the other hand controlling both Sea Lion Rock camera and Strider Rubbing Beach camera, Claire was covering all fronts in the Lab while Jeremie was on deck taking pictures of the BiggÕs orcas in Blackney Pass. Their dorsal fins all had nicks and he soon identified them as the T137s. In the meantime, the rubbing whales spent some quality time at Strider Rubbing Beach from 12:33pm until 12:51pm, then on to the Main Rubbing Beach from 12:55pm antill 13:04pm. One male had a tall wobbly fin that looked like A95 and the others looked like members of the A23s. There was no sign of A60 but he usually does his own thing and is not often seen rubbing. As the Resident whales ended their rub, the T137s were passing close to the Lab and headed north into Blackfish Sound. After all these events, the following silence on the hydrophones was a bit unsettling for Claire and Jeremie manning the lab! Just before 3pm, the A23s were vocal again in Johnstone Strait, east of the Reserve. They remained distant for most of the afternoon and ignored the rubbing beaches as the tide was pretty low. At 7:04pm, they were making their way back west close to Vancouver Island and we heard their clear and beautiful calls on the Kaizumi Rubbing Beach, identified as the A23s by Tomoko and Dylan listening from afar. Their calls faded after 7:43pm. A humpback took over very close to the Parson Island hydrophone at 7:57pm, and then another one on the Flower Island hydrophone at 9:19pm, almost with no boat noise covering their melodies. A lovely way to end the day!
OrcaLab
02 Nov 2024 11:04:31 PST
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