Orcas near mics. After a very long pause we are once again hearing A30s,A5s and I15s in Blackfish Sound. OrcaLab 06 Aug 2019 23:18:34 PDT No calls but orcas nearby The familiar groups, the A30s, A5s, I15s and I35s spent the day travelling Queen Charlotte Strait (at 6:30am they were off Bere Point, and their profession from there continued well into the afternoon) all the way to west of Numas Island where at one point they formed a large resting line and as Bill Mackay reported they were just "chilling". This meant we got on to other things around the Lab while we waited to hear what the whales might decide to do. Just before 4pm they were back at Bere Point rubbing and carrying on toward Blackfish. Our first calls came just before 6pm and until almost 9pm we continued to hear the groups in Blackfish Sound. The A5s were first and last. The silence that follow leads us to suspect that they chose to go through Weynton ahead of the slack tide but until we hear them (one way or the other) we will not know for certain. Nice to have them back so we can resume our focus and purpose! OrcaLab 06 Aug 2019 21:06:51 PDT

Multiple pod calls audible. Right now we are listening to the A5s, A30s, I15s and the I35s up in Blackfish Sound. It has been quite the day with these groups. After they headed west to Blinkhorn and the entrance to Weynton Passage this morning they eventually turned around about 3:40pm and got as far as the entrance to Blackney Pass and the Cracroft Point area. There they stayed, milling, foraging, socializing allowing time to pass. Four hours later they finally decided to move north into the Pass. They were remarkably quick too once the decision was made. The two A5 groups entered first. They were followed by the I15s, I35s and finally the A30s. The orcas were not all in their respective groups - a result perhaps of all the great socializing they are involved in recently. They were all through by 8:21pm and their calls grew quickly less frequent and more distant. But after a gap of an hour they began calling once more. This brings us to where we started.  OrcaLab 05 Aug 2019 22:51:59 PDT Multiple pod calls audible. We are watching the various groups make their way toward the entrance of Blackney Pass, they are spread right out across the Strait from west of the Sophias, Kaikash to Blackney. Jared fillies us in just before Noon that the A50s, I4s and the I35s were together off Swaine Point close to the Cracroft Island shore, others were still across the Strait in the Bight. Probably then we had the A54s when we heard calls round Critical Point at the start of this session. We have heard A5 calls since and have had reports of A61 travelling west. Not sure at this point where the A23s are and the who their I15 companions were last night and early this morning. This may get cleared up soon. OrcaLab 05 Aug 2019 13:10:35 PDT Orcas near mics. And they are back. An A30 group has headed into the Bight on their way west. OrcaLab 05 Aug 2019 11:20:19 PDT No orcas present. Here it is past 9am and foggy still though the sun is trying. Through the early morning hours the groups finally caught the flood tide and moved toward the Reserve area. The A5s and an I15 group continued to lead the way (they had been first through Blackney Pass earlier). They were followed by the first A30 group, the rest of the I15s, the I35s and finally the other A30s. Before and by 3am these groups were in the Bight and approaching Critical Point. The A5s and their I15 group had already slipped to the Main Rubbing beach. It did not sound like they had a rub to us but were more offshore. We could still hear an A30 group off Critical Point but the majority were following the A5 path east. An A30 group came in closer to the Beaches before passing beyond by 4:20am. We believe the groups continued east from there. OrcaLab 05 Aug 2019 09:39:58 PDT Multiple pod calls audible. That sunset was lovely Megan! It took a while but the whales, determined, finally made it to Johnstone Strait. The movement (against the current) started with the A5 who as we suspected rounded Hanson Island by going through Weynton Passage in advance of the others (the A30s, I35s and I15s) who were making their way toward Blackfish Sound from Queen Charlotte Strait. We had few acoustic clues until the stronger A5 calls in Blackney Pass indicated that there was some progress. One of the I15 groups accompanied the A5 group through to Johnstone Strait by 12:40am. It took the others longer. Blows lingered in the Pass until the push. At 12:55am the A30s, I31s (I35s), the rest of the I15s and A5s became suddenly vocal as they negotiated their way toward the entrance of Blackney. The first group may have shifted slightly to the west to give room for the others coming in. CP could hear multiple blows at 1:11am and by 1:16am everyone was in the Strait acoustically and busy sorting out their order. The current will change to flood in about twenty minutes and that may further encourage an eastward direction. They and we worked hard during these last several hours to get to this point! OrcaLab 05 Aug 2019 01:40:54 PDT

Distant calls audible. Some pretty intriguing reports today! From the western portion of Queen Charlotte Strait the A30s, I65s, I27s, I4s and the I35s (back from a long jaunt somewhere north) were seen this afternoon (thanks Dylan). These groups, presumably the same ones were later seen at Bere Point in Queen Charlotte Strait (thanks Kate) and that they were continuing east in the direction of Blackfish Sound. Well, we have been waiting and recently finally heard a few calls. The tide is on a strong ebb now (it turned at 8pm) so it is anyone's guess what the orcas will decide to do.  OrcaLab 04 Aug 2019 21:06:05 PDT No calls but orcas nearby After a long time we had really quiet night. The last calls yesterday were at 19.13 when whales (A5s) left Robson Bight Reserve and headed east. This morning at 7.30 we spotted group of orcas (2 males, 5-6 small fins) just off the Reserve on Critical Point camera, heading east. Later at 8.52 we started hearing calls on Rubbing Beach hydrophone (possibly A5s) and saw 2 individuals (we believe one of them was A61) passing by close to the shore heading west. They were vocal when they were passing Robson Bight and are still heading west on Vancouver Island side. Orcalab 04 Aug 2019 10:53:09 PDT

Distant calls audible. We've got calls! After a quiet afternoon where the A23s kept teasing us with sightings on Critical Point, but no major vocalizations, we finally have some! They seem to be foraging for the moment, switching between traveling East and West and are visible on Critical Point camera! Orcalab 03 Aug 2019 19:16:15 PDT No calls but orcas nearby After the quiet morning, the A23s, who came back from the east, passed off Rubbing Beach around noon. They came up to Critical Point at 12:34pm, now heading west in the Strait.  Orcalab 03 Aug 2019 13:11:23 PDT No orcas present. A very foggy morning (Fogust is here). We did hear the A5s on the Rubbing Beach at 12:25am and their general movement was west back to Robson Bight. They stayed around the immediate Bight area till 12:45am and then perhaps either turned back east or swung around to the west. There was just not enough to tell us clearly what their intentions might have been. We heard the last distant calls at 2:21 am.  OrcaLab 03 Aug 2019 09:12:55 PDT

No orcas present. I left you waiting for what was to happen next. Indeed there was splitting of the groups. The A30s and the I15s carried on into Queen Charlotte Strait (at 11:47 they were off Donegal Head and by 12:41pm they were 31/2 miles back of Lizard Point) while the A23s and the A25s (together again) came around the "corner" from Weynton Pass and moved to Double Bay and points east until they came into our view at 11:35am. The A23s were in the lead and the A25s following. They made a straight trip through Blackney mid channel and by 12:11 pm the A23s were off Cracroft Point and in Megan and Shari's view. They turned to the east and headed down the Strait with the A25s soon after. After the A23s approached the Main Rubbing Beach at 2:17pm, the A25s announced their presence in close to Critical Point in Robson Bight at 2:32pm. As the A23s exited the Reserve the A25s passed the Rubbing beach stopping to forage and then continue eastward after their pod mates. OrcaLab 02 Aug 2019 17:33:04 PDT Distant calls audible. So at 8:40am I went to the Lab to do an update of the happenings during the night (it was busy!) but before I could start whales began to pour into Blackney Pass from Johnstone Strait. So let's start there: BY 8:29 CP was reporting A61 and A85 were heading west past the camp and then at 8:30am Megan and Shari could see whales coming west from the Sophia Islands heading west. The Cliff also reported whales heading west. We picked up on A5 calls off the entrance to Blackney as the A5s crossed and continued west toward the western end of Hanson Island. We listened to the I15s and the A30s come closer to the entrance of Blackney and by 9:01am the first group (the I27s) had entered Blackney Pass to head north toward Blackfish Sound. They were soon followed by the I65s. All were carried along on the fast ebb. I122 rushed mid channel to catch up with his group. A short pause saw the A30s and the I4s at the entrance o Blackney Pass. They too got caught up in the ebb and flowed into Blackney Pass all together mid channel. Before 10am all these groups were in Blackfish. We were still hearing A5 calls in Johnstone Strait at 9:43am and were pretty convinced that they were about to head into Weynton Pass. Since then we continued to record calls off of the Flower Island system and from the VHF reports understand that the whales formed a resting line and then may have split with some heading into Queen Charlotte while others began to head east toward Blackney. Enough for now: I will fill in the early morning hours a bit later!  OrcaLab 02 Aug 2019 11:03:24 PDT

Superb sounds!! Beautiful A30 calls in Blackney Pass right now as the whales head back toward Johnstone Strait. The I15s are there too - just chimed in. OrcaLab 01 Aug 2019 22:11:16 PDT No orcas present. We continued to hear A30 and I15 calls up in Blackfish Sound until around 2:00 pm. Soon after, at 2:32 pm, we received a report of the Orca heading into Johnstone Straight by way of Weynton Passage. Shortly, we began hearing calls on our Cracroft Point and Critical Point hydrophones. It seems as if they spent a couple hours foraging around the entrance of Blackney Pass, out of sight of our cameras and in the thick fog. At 4:30 pm, some of this group headed north through Blackney Pass, and by 4:44 pm blows were heard in front of the lab, through the fog. We could see a few of these Orca, but for the most part the fog hid them from our view. They cleared Blackney Pass around 5:25 pm and we have not heard them since 5:47 pm in Blackfish Sound. We hope they are having a peaceful day surrounded by mist and silence. Orcalab 01 Aug 2019 19:01:42 PDT Distant calls audible. . . .and they are back... somewhere out there in the fog, and somewhere in Blackfish Sound, we are hearing A30 calls once again. OrcaLab 01 Aug 2019 11:22:34 PDT No orcas present. Starting just after 5am we heard very distant I15 calls at the top end of Blackfish Sound. They were later joined by closer A30s. By 6:33 am we were winding if the whales had turned to the northwest. Calls ended around this time. OrcaLab 01 Aug 2019 10:37:27 PDT