Orcas near mics. The A36 brothers are still calling, not very often. Some of the calls seem closer to to Robson Bight every so often. Helena 25 Jun 2014 20:58:02 PDT Orcas near mics. The A36s sound closer now to Robson Bight. Helena 25 Jun 2014 19:48:44 PDT Distant calls audible. The brothers are in Johnstone Strait along with a couple of humpbacks as well. Helena 25 Jun 2014 18:02:39 PDT Superb sounds!! Despite that boat noise the A36s are calling. They have cleared our view headed for home - Johnstone Strait! A37 was quite a bit behind A46 but looking ok. A46 stopped in Blackney turned, called and waited a bit before moving ahead. We soon saw A37 closer to our side following. Helena 25 Jun 2014 16:54:09 PDT Distant calls audible. Just beginning to call now! Helena 25 Jun 2014 16:07:18 PDT No calls but orcas nearby A37 is swimming a couple of kilometres behind his brother, still waiting,  Helena 25 Jun 2014 15:43:30 PDT No calls but orcas nearby We are waiting to see if A46 comes in to view from Blackfish Sound. Camera is on:http://orcalab.click2stream.com/ Helena 25 Jun 2014 15:18:41 PDT

No orcas present. A quick correction on our humpback list: Freckles not yet accounted for. Thanks Jackie for the follow up. Helena  21 Jun 2014 07:24:56 PDT

Distant calls audible. The orcas have moved into Blackfish Sound. Apparently there is a lot of breaching. Larry Roy and the Lukwa are on scene. Helena in Alert Bay 20 Jun 2014 14:38:19 PDT Orcas near mics. Molly has been hearing Bigg's calls off the Local Left hydrophone. On Wednesday Jared identified the T124s off Bold Head at 4:14pm. Helena in Alert Bay 20 Jun 2014 14:02:44 PDT

No orcas present. Our internet woes seem to have been corrected for now, fingers crossed. Meanwhile, the humpback continue to use Blackney Pass. It has been great to see so many familiar whales return for another season! The list includes: KC, Freckles,Inukshuk, Chunky,Stripe, Arial, Sqiggles, Black Pearl, Guardian. We also heard from Cetacealab that the A30s were recently seen. Hermann took a picture of A72 (Bend) with a young baby alongside. This is very exciting. Can't wait for the season to start. Meanwhile, Angela has been keeping us up to date with reports of sightings of orcas off the Port Hardy/northern Vancouver Island area. It seems that there has been quite a few repeated sightings. The weather has been sunny but very windy of late - summer not too far away now! We welcomed Molly to OrcaLab a couple days ago. Helena  17 Jun 2014 08:17:21 PDT

Performing maintenance We think our internet connection is working again (still needs work) so we are resuming audio streaming. Fingers crossed it continues! Paul 15 Jun 2014 14:13:39 PDT

No orcas present. Great news today! Lance wrote: Hello Everyone Erin Rechsteiner, Christie McMillan, Christophe Guinet, Ruth Joy and I are pleased to pass on the news that Springer and her calf were sighted yesterday in beautiful Fitz Hugh Sound, alive and well. The five of us are working with the Hakai Beach Institute (HBI) on a collaborative study of humpback whale body condition and dive behaviour in relation to forage fish and krill schools. We were watching humpbacks feeding along the mainland shore near Namu when we received a report from Midoli Bresch (HBI) of killer whales travelling south from Fisher Channel into the northern part of Fitz Hugh Sound. Christie and Ruth headed over in a skiff to check them out, and quickly spotted Springer and calf surrounded by close relatives. This is great news for everyone interested in the welfare of killer whales off the east coast of North America—and will be particularly gratifying to those who were involved in the many aspects of Springers’s identification, assessment, rescue, rehabilitation, transportation and release 12 years ago. Best regards, Lance Barrett-Lennard (Vancouver Aquarium) on behalf of Erin Rechsteiner, Ruth Joy and Eric Peterson (Hakai Beach Institute) Christie McMillan (Marine Education and Research Society) Christophe Guinet (Centre national de la recherche scientifique)  Helena & Paul 10 Jun 2014 11:32:04 PDT

No orcas present. At 1pm noticed a humpback on the far shore heading north. Previously, a lone sea lion balanced himself on the rock by the Parson Island Light. He didn't stay too long. Helena 09 Jun 2014 13:27:16 PDT

No orcas present. We have been experiencing some technical problems which we hope to solve soon. Meanwhile, the cetaceans have had no problem coming into Blackney Pass! Yesterday there was a nice group of dolphins feed ing in Blackney. They travelled in from the north. Dave Towers gave us a heads up. After some milling they moved back and forth. Unfortunately, a sports fisher also noticed the dolphins and seemed to think he had license to drive right into the group. Both he and the dolphins disappeared to the north. the dolphins returned shortly afterwards without the boat. They continued toward the south and the Strait. We heard no calls at this time but later, as has been their habit they became vocal later that night. Today, Jim Borrowmn saw a humpback off Cracroft around 9am and later Dave Towers found four in Weynton Pass. Later in the afternoon, as Paul returned from town, at least 3 humpbacks traveled south into Blackney. Two were seen headed toward the Strait and it was not clear what the third individual did. Helena 08 Jun 2014 18:20:07 PDT

No orcas present. Stubbs Island Whale Watch reported that Ariel was eastboind in Johnstone Strait just before 5pm. Thanks Jeff for the report. Helena 06 Jun 2014 17:18:29 PDT No orcas present. Marie and Jackie provided yesterday's humpback IDs from our less than perfect pictures. They were KC and Ariel! KC has a very altered dorsal fin after a boat strike in August last year. This injury highlights the dangers whales face and the need for the public to become aware of marine mammals while on the water. The season is just coming up and we hope this message is heard and people act on it. I will post yesterday's pictures along with this comment on the Orcalive and Orcalab 100 Facebook pages. Meanwhile, thanks Jackie and Marie for your help! Helena 06 Jun 2014 12:20:16 PDT No orcas present. Humpbacks just on the cusp between Blackfish Sound and Blackney Pass pointing southward: Watching the lovely ocean with my morning coffee!  Helena 06 Jun 2014 09:53:27 PDT

No orcas present. The humpbacks (2) made a wide circle around Blackney Pass and were last seen just after 11:30am traveling back south. Helena 05 Jun 2014 14:03:13 PDT No orcas present. Dave Towers reports that he saw a humpback off White Beach Pass this morning. Thanks Dave! Helena  05 Jun 2014 10:34:49 PDT

Distant calls audible. Need to also mention that yesterday, there were two humpbacks that went west past Telegraph Cove around 9pm reported by Jim Borrowman. Helena  04 Jun 2014 23:06:21 PDT Distant calls audible. I can hear a few dolphin calls. Today Stubbs Island reported seeing a small group of dolphins in Weynton Pass. Strong northwest winds making for a noisy sea. Helena  04 Jun 2014 23:04:40 PDT