No orcas present. We received a report at around 6pm that the A5s came out of Beaver Cove and looked like they were heading north through Weynton Passage. We've had no further reports since then, and it's all been quiet on our hydrophones! Who knows where they will head as the night draws on... Hanna & Suzie 05 Sep 2017 23:30:30 PDT Distant calls audible. It's been a quiet morning here at the lab. We started to hear very faint A clan calls at 12:30pm. We found them on our camera, foraging in Robson Bight, and tracked them moving west through Johnstone Strait. At 13:45pm we heard faint A5 calls at Cracroft Point; possibly the same orcas who were moving west through the Strait a little earlier. The calls are distant and infrequent, so we are waiting to see what they do next!  Suzie 05 Sep 2017 14:09:05 PDT

No calls but orcas nearby The A30s came back with some of the I15s and possibly a part of the I31s from the east last, headed west from Robson Bight. At 10:22am, Marie reported that a group of 4 small fins were heading west, below the Cliff. She heard more blows coming from the east in the fog. At 11:20am, the I16s, I65s, I4s and A23s/25s were reported off the Cliff, going to the west. At 11:19am, Megan at Cracroft Point reported that 3 small fins headed into Blackney Pass. At 11:53am, we spotted them in the south of Blackney. They were struggling the flooding tide. At 12:41pm, they went out of veiw. We think they were Bigg's. The I15s and A23/25s continued to the west, passed the entrance to Blackney Pass. Around 1:10pm, Marie reported that I68 and I136 were playing with Pacific white-sided dolphins, off Western Boundary. Around 2:30pm, the A30s came up to the entrance of Blackney Pass the headed into Blackney Pass. At 3:32pm, the orcas came into our view, heading north from the Strait. The A30s were in the lead, followed by some of the I15s (at least I4s) and A23s. We were busy keeping track of them when we caught sight of some of the I16s and I68s who passed by the lab rather closely. At last the A25s rushed north through the Pass until the last Orca left our view at 4:35 pm. They kept up their pace while going west in Blackfish Sound until their calls faded out. After that we received a report at 7:14 pm that some of the Orcas were going back into the Strait via Weynton Pass. Following this we heard A30 and GI calls in Blackfish Sound. The last calls were at 8:46 pm. At 9:52 Megan at Cracroft Point heard blows (about 7 individuals) coming from the west going east. The whales were travelling quietly, we are now waiting for them to start calling to find out who this was! We will keep you updated! Momoko & Hanna 04 Sep 2017 23:08:44 PDT Orcas near mics. Some days you never know what might happen even in zero/zero fog! Lea was zoning in on a lone seagull standing on the cliffside at the Main rubbing beach (there was fog all around) when an orca appeared suddenly at 9:51am (you can scroll back on https://explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-rubbing-beach-underwater )! The orca did a quick rub on hurrying to the west. We could not find any others in the fog but got ready, with the suspicion, that whales were returning from the east, at Critical Point in Robson Bight. There we were amazed to watch a gorgeous "fogbow" stretching across the entire Bight. Then came the whales! We first heard I15s followed by the A5s. Quite the day even this early! OrcaLab 04 Sep 2017 10:44:33 PDT No calls but orcas nearby After the several hours of break, we received a report that the A5s were near Blinkhorn, going west at 5:29pm. We started hearing them at 5:37pm. The A5s turned to the east at some point. At 8:31pm, we spotted 2 small fins on our Robson Bight camera, heading east. We also saw a male (A61?) was travelling together with some small fins. We followed them until they went out from our view. At 11:48pm, we picked up A5 calls again on our Critical Point hydrophone. At 5pm, the A30s and I15s were reported at Nodales, still heading east. Momoko 04 Sep 2017 00:38:15 PDT

Distant calls audible. At 9:58 we could see a big male in Robson Bight and we heard some A5 calls on Critical Point hydrophone,at 10:59 Marie reported the A5s going west off Robson Bight. They slowly made their way to the west ,where Megan heard their blows at 11:45.We started hearing faint calls in Johnstone Strait again at 12:45,shortly after we received reports of them being seen near Blinkhorn. We also got the Report of a big group of about 20 Orcas going east near Kelsey Bay at 12:13.The A30s were not seen to be part of this group,so it is unclear where they are at the moment. Hanna & Momoko 03 Sep 2017 13:01:00 PDT Distant calls audible. Af, in the fog! We got a report at 9:35am of whales heading west along the Cracroft Island side near Boat Bay. Soon after we started hearing distant A5 calls. Possibly the groups are spread out across the Strait, all heading west. After we heard the calls starting at 10:21pm yesterday evening we believe the whales continued east, perhaps closer to the Cracroft Island shore. The last calls were around 2:30am. Marie, at Boat Bay heard blows heading east at about the same time. When they came in we think we heard all the same groups from earlier in the day. OrcaLab 03 Sep 2017 10:11:59 PDT

Distant calls audible. We started hearing A5, A30 and G-I calls. It seems like they entered Johnstone Strait via Weynton Passage. Now they are heading east in the strait. Momoko 02 Sep 2017 22:45:49 PDT No orcas present. We started hearing GI calls in Johnstone Strait at 14:22 where the I15s and possibly also a part of the I31s eventually met up with the A23/25s and the A30s. They went to the east to Cracroft Point together at 16:23. They spent about an hour off Cracroft Point in thick fog. At 17:21, we caught a glimpse of a big male in the entrance of Blackney Pass on our Cracroft Point camera as he started making his way towards us. At 17:32, we started hearing them on our Local Left hydrophone, shortly before we heard blows in Blackney Pass. Megan at Cracroft Point reported that the A30s were going into Blackney first, followed by the A5s. It was difficult to see them in the fog. At 17:55, we realized more groups were coming from the strait. They came close enough to identify. We identified I98 in the group followed by the I27s and then I16 with probably I154 and I128. At 18:16, they cleared into Blackfish Sound. We identified the A30s, A5s, I15s and I31s acoustically. The calls were getting fainter as the orcas moved to the top end of Blackfish Sound. The last calls we heard were at 20:17 from the A30s. It seems like the orcas went out to Queen Charlotte Strait. Momoko & Hanna 02 Sep 2017 20:51:32 PDT Distant calls audible. This morning around 7:40am Marie reported orcas heading east from Strider. At least one male, possibly A61, passed the Rubbing Beach off-shore at 7:52am heading east, but he seemed to turned back on himself. At 10:56am we had a report of another group at Lizard Point heading east (they later made it to Donegal Head at 12:56pm), who have since been identified as I15s, and possibly I31s. At 11:08am we heard echolocation in Robson Bight from the group in the Strait. Our cameras followed several individuals past the Bight and on west, and we heard A1 and A5 calls at various distances on Critical until around 11:40am. They began arriving in view of Cracroft Point around 12:20pm taking long dives, along with some very playful Pacific White-Sided Dolphins. They came to the entrance of Blackney but ultimately continued west. The A23/25s were in the lead, with both males close to Hanson Island side, and the others on Vancouver Island side. The A30s remained longer near Blackney Pass entrance for a time, but eventually followed west shortly before 2pm. The most recent reports have the GI group entering the Strait from Weynton Passage, with the As at a similar position. We can still hear distant A5 calls in the area, so it will be interesting to see if they turn to join the GIs on their way in. Max 02 Sep 2017 15:00:49 PDT

Distant calls audible. At 10:54pm, we realized there were orca blows in Blackney Pass. They were slowly heading south. There was an active humpback whale who was breaching and tail or pec slapping many times while the orcas were passing. At 11:31pm, blows cleared into the strait. Sounds like the A5s were in lead, followed by the A30s. Megan at Cracroft Point reports that they are now heading east in Johnstone Strait. Momoko & Hanna 01 Sep 2017 23:46:44 PDT No calls but orcas nearby The A23/25s and A30s came back through Blackney shortly after the previous update, coming into our view at 7:43pm. We heard A5 calls on our Local Left hydrophone at 7:50pm, and A1 calls a few minutes after. The groups were at least in part intermingled, as A61 was was travelling with A72 and a host of small fins. They were all together at 8:21pm, just before clearing our view at 8:25pm. We followed the group on our Parson Rock camera, and then at Cracroft Point until dark. We later heard blows in Blackney once more at 9:16pm; they were heading back north, and cleared around 9:25pm. Since then, we have heard intermittent A1 and A5 calls in Blackfish sound.  Max 01 Sep 2017 22:55:03 PDT Distant calls audible. A5 calls in Blackfish Sound. Who's with them this time? Max 01 Sep 2017 18:26:44 PDT No calls but orcas nearby We received a report that the group of Bigg's were identified as T37Bs, T37 and T34s, with new babies for T37B and T34! Momoko 01 Sep 2017 16:33:23 PDT No calls but orcas nearby Bill on Naiad Explorer reported the A23/25s and A30s heading towards Blinkhorn, after the A30s had moved into Weynton Passage a bit and then regrouped with the A23/25s, who left Beaver Cove at 12:30pm. The group of Bigg's went to the west to Weynton then took Cormorant Channel, and were heading west at Mitchell Bay at 1:07pm. We followed the A30s and A23/25s on our Cracroft Point camera. At 2pm, they were in line with Blinkhorn, heading towards Cracroft Point. They started foraging with some Pacific white sided dolphins off of Cracroft Point in beautifully calm water. It was an amazing scene (you can rewind and take a look it on http://explore.org/live-cams/player/orcalab-cracroft-point-surface). At 2:32pm, Megan at Cracroft Point reported the orcas heading into Blackney Pass. We spotted them on our Parson Island camera around 2:35pm. At 2:48pm, they were off of Parson Island, going east, mid-channel. When they came opposite of the lab, A60 started leading others. A61 was with the A30s. At 3:08pm, A60 went out of sight and then the A30s with A61 cleared to the north at 3:13pm. They were really quiet while they were passing Blackney to the north. At 3:38pm, we heard a single faint call (probably from one of the A30s) in Blackfish Sound. Momoko 01 Sep 2017 16:15:08 PDT No calls but orcas nearby After a quiet night we had a report at 7.13am of the A23s, A25s and A30s heading west by Boat Bay Island. They were right at Boat Bay Camp at 7.29 am with 100 Pacific White Sided Dolphins and reached Swaine Point at 7.37am. We saw a group of orcas heading west in the Strait near Sophia's. We heard the first calls at 8.25am as the residents were approaching Cracroft Point mid strait. At 9.11am, we had a report of Bigg's going past main rubbing beach. They headed west from Western Boundary at about 9.52am close to Vancouver Island. The resident group split up and the A30s went up the Hanson Island shore and headed up towards Big Bay whereas the A5s went west closer to Vancouver Island and are almost at Blinkhorn now. The Bigg's are in Kaikash area right now and are still going west. Lea 01 Sep 2017 10:44:29 PDT No orcas present. It was quiet all night. The last calls we heard were 10:16pm, from the A30s. We think the A30s kept going to the east from Robson Bight as the A5s did earlier. Momoko 01 Sep 2017 06:29:34 PDT