Superb sounds!! Lovely A34 calls in Johnstone Strait right now. OrcaLab 19 Oct 2019 19:49:44 PST Summary for October 17 2019 Humpbacks, A34s (minus A62s) At 7:00am sharp, we heard Northern Residents calls in Johnstone Strait. They were lovely calls from the A34s matriline. At 7:44am, their calls and echolocation sounds were close to our hydrophone in the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve. The group foraged in the area for about 15 minutes before heading to the area covered by our remote camera at the Main Rubbing Beach. We were able to spot a male foraging mid channel at 8:30am. At 8:56am, we saw a male foraging and tail slapping off Swaine Point, closer to the Cracroft island side, across the Strait from the beaches in the Ecological Reserve. Twenty minutes later, we heard the A34s again on our hydrophones as they now made their way west and “up” the Strait, slowly heading towards the entrance of Blackney Pass. Their calls were close to our Cracroft Point hydrophone from 10:45am until 11:04am. There were several fins passing right in front of our “CP” station platform. A tug and barge was also headed in the same direction at the same time. A first group entered our view in Blackney Pass at 12:26pm composed of A55, A80, A34, and A96. Not far away behind were A67 with her 2 youngsters, A102 and A112. We did not see the rest of the family (the A62s). They exited Blackney Pass at 11:35am as the tug and barge cleared our view too. They were not vocal during this passage, except for a few calls in Blackfish Sound at 12:01pm until 12:09pm. They went around Hanson Island via Weynton Passage and we heard them again in Johnstone Strait at 2:16pm. Their calls were faint and sporadic for a few hours before going silent for the rest of the day. At 4:59pm, a humpback started to vocalize in front of the lab. We spotted an active whale in line with Compton Island This whale intrigued us by popping up his head when the vocalizations stopped and then submerging underwater when the song resumed. The coincidence of his behaviour and vocals seemed very probable. His song continued melodiously at 5:13pm and then his calls became rare until 7:27pm.  OrcaLab 19 Oct 2019 19:37:30 PST Summary for October 16 2019 Humpbacks A rare no orca day. At 1:20am, we heard melodic humpback calls and whistles in Blackfish Sound. Then, at 3:01am, we heard another humpback in Johnstone Strait while barks and whistles continued in the Sound until 5:27am. The rest of the day was pretty quiet until 7:25pm when a humpback started to warm up on our local hydrophone as we were about to serve dinner. For about half an hour, we heard him sing an incredible diversity of sounds that words can’t describe. But we tried: out of tune violin, dinosaur growls, crocodile barks, squeaking doors… He was silent for a minute at 7:46pm, when we heard a distinctive humpback blow in line with Hump of Compton! What a lovely evening.  OrcaLab 19 Oct 2019 19:36:04 PST

Summary for October 15 2019 Humpbacks, A5s, A34s Being woken up before daylight by a humpback song is an incredible feeling that gives you the most amazing strength to start another day. This is exactly what happened this morning with moans and songs, started on our Parson Island hydrophone at 6:09am. This recital continued distantly while the humpback was heading north towards the lab and by 6:36 am, we could hear it getting closer to our local hydrophone. Quin was rewarded to be up with calls and blows he could hear outside right in front of the lab at a time of 6:55 am. The orcas were not such early birds this morning but we started to hear very faint calls at 9:02am. It took some time to find out where the calls were coming from as they were infrequent but by 9:17am the whales were getting more noticeable in Blackfish Sound though still far away. Once again it was the A34s. After a short period of time, the calls disappeared and we stopped the recording by 9:55 am. At 2:27pm, the A34s resumed in Blackfish Sound with some very interesting calls at 2:37pm and 2:38pm as one individual seemed to venture further east in Blackfish Sound closer to the hydrophone. Before the whale(s) retreated back “up” Blackfish there were more interesting calls. What was going on was left to our imagination. Later that day, the family travelled into Johnstone Strait via Weynton Pass by 3:56pm. They were joined by the A5s at 5:30pm. We stopped hearing them all at 6:01pm.  OrcaLab 16 Oct 2019 09:22:20 PST Summary for October 14 2019 Harlequin (BCXuk2018#1) , A5s, A34s Very faint orca calls started at 6:59am in Johnstone Strait. We were able to identify the calls half an hour later as the A34s became clearer on our Cracroft Point hydrophone. They must have been headed towards Weynton Pass. At 7:57am, we started to hear the A5s in Blackfish Sound, followed by A34s calls at 8:18am. Faint A calls continued in the Sound for about 4 hours until last heard at 12:35pm. We heard Northern Resident calls again at 2:55pm back in Johnstone Strait while we were watching a humpback in front of the lab rolling around, accompanied by sea lions. For more than an hour, this chilled whale, Harlequin, mesmerized our team who was completely hypnotized by this incredible scene. We could even see Harlequin’s eye leisurely looking above the surface while close to the lab. The scene slowly shifted towards the Sea Lion rock by 15:30pm. Jackie Hildering, from MERS, later confirmed Harlequin’s (BCXuk2018#1) identification. The orca calls were sporadic and distant in the Strait until 5:40pm. We learned that the near “constant” Blackney Pass humpback, Guardian, was recently seen off Steep Island near Campbell River by Roger McDonnell. Rather nice that the network of observers continues to provide details about the lives of the whales on this coast.  OrcaLab 16 Oct 2019 08:53:03 PST

Summary for October 13 2019 Humpbacks, A42s, A34s Without a warning, orcas entered Blackney Pass from the south at 8:44am. We saw A66, A55 and at least 7 small fins. There were no calls during their passage and no calls in Blackfish Sound when they cleared at 9:02am. We heard them in the Sound a bit later at 9:44am until 10:34am. Alex Morton has these groups moving quickly from mid Blackfish Sound towers Weynton Pass at 10:49am. We became aware of orcas in Johnstone Strait at 11:56am, as we heard A5 calls on our Cracroft Point hydrophone, soon echoing to our Parson Island hydrophone, once again in the entrance to Blackney Pass! The calls started to get excited and loud at 12:42pm with now both A5 calls and A34s calls. We found the orcas on our remote camera off Cracroft Point and the entrance of Blackney Pass. They were spread out and paced and foraged for a few hours. Humpbacks, dolphins and birds also joined in for the feast. The orcas continued to call very actively and echolocate as well. We were hoping that they would come into Blackney Pass,of course, but they favored to remain off the entrance of the Pass. At 4:54pm we lost track of them on the remote camera. We heard them on our Cracroft Point hydrophone until 9:34pm. A humpback started to sing in Blackfish Sound at 9:51pm but was regularly interrupted by heavy boat noise.  OrcaLab 14 Oct 2019 13:43:55 PST Summary for October 12 2019 Humpbacks, A5s, A34s Loud A5 calls woke us up in the middle of the night at 3:47am. Northern Residents were in Johnstone Strait, close to our Cracroft Point hydrophone. They only called for a few minutes and then became completely silent. A humpback started to sing at 4:58am in Blackfish Sound and then orcas were heard again in Johnstone Strait at 5:19am. The calls were faint and sporadic. At 8:07am, we heard calls in Blackfish Sound. They had likely gone around Hanson Island via Weyton Pass? We listened to them until 9:37am, very far away. We heard a humpback sing in Blackfish Sound at 11:55am until 12:11am. Then another humpback caught our attention in Blackney Pass. The whale was trap feeding mid channel and drifting with the current from mid Harbledown to Parson Island. Incredible to watch! At 2:14pm, we heard the Northern Residents in Johnstone Strait again. The A5s and A34s were distant and sporadic for most of the afternoon and last heard at 6:19pm when we all gathered for a lovely Canadian Thanksgiving dinner. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  OrcaLab 14 Oct 2019 13:27:15 PST Summary for October 11 2019 Humpbacks, A34s, A42s, A23s, A25s Humpback calls started at 3:52am in Blackfish Sound and continued occasionally until 5:21am. Ten minutes later another humpback was heard on our Parson Island hydrophone. He continued to make sporadic squeaky sounds and vocals until 7:36am. Northern Resident calls started at 8:18am in Johnstone Strait. They were distant at first but started to get closer to the entrance of Blackney Pass by 8:53am when we saw a tall black fin on our remote Cracroft Point camera. Their calls were active on the Cracroft Point hydrophone echoing to the Parson Island hydrophone. These hydrophones cover the entrance to Blackney Pass acoustically. The orcas were spread out but eventually they began to make their way further into BlacKney Pass. We sighted a first group at 9:17am, followed by a second group. We were able to identify some of the A34s and A42s but did not get a full count so wondered if some of the A34s were still elsewhere. We heard distant calls on our local hydrophone during this passage at 9:19am, 9:23am and 9:28am. As they travelled North and started to call in Blackfish Sound at 9:40am, another group appeared in Blackney Pass with the remaining family members. The first 2 groups continued to call in Blackfish Sound while the third group was milling just east of Flower Island for a little while. This group cleared around 10:10am but did not travel far as we heard close calls in Blackfish Sound echoing to our local hydrophone at 10:22am. They were milling off of Swanson Island for some time before finally moving further into Blackfish Sound with last calls heard at 11:12am. At 12:56pm, we heard calls in Johnstone Strait. The orcas had gone around Hanson Island via Weynton Pass and reappeared in the Strait. We heard lively A34 and A5s calls for a few hours as we watched a humpback trap feeding in the rip on our Cracroft Point camera at 1:56pm and another one tail splashing at 2:39pm southwest of Hanson Island. The orcas became pretty silent on our hydrophones between 3:15pm and 4:56pm. Wec then heard them on our Parson Island hydrophone at 5:25pm and soon after that we saw them arrive in Blackney Pass. To our surprise, we identified the A23s and A25s, travelling with the A42s and A34s! What a treat to see all the A5s and the A34s in Blackney Pass! This reunion could explain the excited calls we heard the evening near Parson Island at 9:42pm. The orcas called on our hydrophone in front of the Lab and in Blackfish Sound at 5:48pm. All groups cleared Blackney Pass by 5:49pm. The orcas continued to call in Blackfish Sound until 6:48pm as they carried on to the west. At the same time humpbacks vocalized in front of the Lab and also in both the Johnstone Strait and Blackfish Sound.  OrcaLab 14 Oct 2019 13:22:08 PST

Summary for October 10 2019 Humpbacks, A34s, A42s, (+?) An early start, when at 3:27am we heard faint orca calls in Johnstone Strait. They were sporadic and distant, but a little while later we confirmed those signature calls of the A34s. There were faint echoes to Cracroft Point, but by 4:27am, the calls were closer to Robson Bight - with no echoes to Cracroft Point - at least some individuals were moving east in the Strait. A humpback whale also joined the symphony at 4:35am near Parson Island. What a moment on the headphones, a rhythm of orcas in one ear, and in the other a melodic humpback solo! The show lasted for a while until the humpback quietened first around 4:51am. Then some boat noise seemed to interrupted the orca recital at 5:08am. Seldom orca calls occurred on our Robson Bight hydrophone but as the boat noise increased the calls became less frequent. The last call heard was at 5:35am. At 7:34am, we heard A34 calls on both the Cracroft Point and Robson Bight hydrophones. The calls were faint, and last heard at 8:22am. The groups had turned west and later left the Strait via Weynton Pass. At 5:59pm, Alex reported that a family of orcas was milling mid Blackfish Sound and by 6:15pm we started to hear them. A lone humpback started singing at 6.34pm in Johnstone Strait. The orca calls became faint and sporadic in Blackfish Sound, and we last heard them at 8:28pm. Then without warning there was the most excited melange of sounds at 9.42pm somewhere near Parson Island! They had passed us, silently, in the moonlight to arrive back in Johnstone Strait. We identified the A34s and A5s by their calls. What had caused this excitement? A meeting? New groups? They continued this flurry of calls for about ten minutes - a truly amazing sound - as they travelled on into Johnstone Strait. We heard another bout of loud and excited calls at 10:06pm, after which they rapidly began to sound more distant, and we heard their last call faintly off Cracroft Point at 10.38pm. We headed to bed wondering if tomorrow would provide any clarity.  OrcaLab 11 Oct 2019 22:37:17 PST Summary for October 9 2019 Humpbacks, A42s & A34s We are becoming very used to our special alarm clocks here at the lab, and this morning was no exception - a beautiful humpback burst into song at 4.23am, somewhere near Parson Island. For the next hour we enjoyed his vocalizations in the darkness, and his song tapered off as he drifted through Blackney Pass, until we last heard him at 5.26am faintly on our local hydrophone. For a short while, at 5:07am, he was joined by the A34s calling faintly in Johnstone Strait. Their calls remained distant until 6.30am when they were matched with A5 calls off Cracroft Point, when the two sets of calls started to get louder. They made some really beautiful, clear and excited calls for the next half an hour and, just as the light began to creep in, we spotted a long resting line of orcas on our Cracroft Point camera - heading into Blackney Pass from the Strait! Quin and Suzie were the only two on Hanson at the time, and they quickly scrambled to their stations to eagerly await black fins on the horizon. It was almost as if the orcas had timed their arrival perfectly with the sunrise. It was a completely cloudless morning, and at 7:29am we saw the first dorsals perfectly silhouetted against a brilliant orange sky. They were silent as they passed us, making for a truly serene and tranquil scene. We identified them as the A34s and A42s as they passed mid-channel, in an almost perfect line, into Blackfish Sound. By 7:53am they had cleared our view to the north, and we didn’t hear another peep from them all morning. At 9:20am we received a report from Alex that there were orca, likely members of these two groups, milling near Bold Head. From there the whales headed into Queen Charlotte Strait. In the afternoon we welcomed volunteers Claire and Jeremie back to the Lab after their time down-island. At 5:20pm we received another report from Alex that there were orcas headed east at Donegal Head. Sure enough, we started to hear calls at 6:37pm in Blackfish Sound. Faint calls from the A34s continued until 7:48pm with a few louder calls at 7:12pm and 7:33pm. A humpback joined the throng right in front of the lab at 7:46pm. By 8:10pm, the A34s had made their way into Johnstone Strait and we began to hear distant calls off Cracroft Point. Soon there were also distant A5 calls in the Strait as well, and the two continued in tandem for a while. Another nice humpback song started on the Parson Island hydrophone at 9:18pm - was this the same individual as earlier, or someone new? We would certainly love to know! The A5s at least were still present around Cracroft Point, and their calls began to with some echo to the Parson Island hydrophone at 9.34pm. The calls gradually started to get closer to the CP hydrophone at 9:51pm, and we wondered if this could mean they were angling towards us in Blackney Pass. But alas, we last heard them faintly off Cracroft Point at 10:06pm, signalling that they had remained in Johnstone Strait. At 10:53pm, another brief but beautiful humpback song pierced the night near Parson Island. By 11.05pm he was silent. This day was done but not the memory of that beautiful dawn pass.  OrcaLab 11 Oct 2019 22:34:35 PST Superb sounds!! And once again a Humpback getting going! OrcaLab 11 Oct 2019 18:06:06 PST Distant calls audible. Good news everyone! The A23s and A25s came back! They are accompanying the A42s and the A34s. OrcaLab 11 Oct 2019 17:46:48 PST

Superb sounds!! A lovely humpback, pausing now, but about to start again. OrcaLab 10 Oct 2019 18:57:56 PST

Superb sounds!! The lovely evening Humpback with orcas in the background. OrcaLab 09 Oct 2019 20:22:48 PST Summary for October 7 2019 A34s, A5s (A42s) We wished for clarity, and it was granted: both A5 and A34 calls broke through the silence of dawn just after 6m, around Cracroft Point. The two groups had reunited in Johnstone Strait. We lost them for a brief period from 7:20am to 9:22am as they went through Weynton Pass to Blackfish Sound. Distant and sporadic calls continued off Blackfish Sound until just after 10am, and at 10:42am we received a report that there were orcas spread out between Egeria Shoals and the Penfold Islands. A determined exit to the west? We hope not! Summary for October 8 2019 A34s, A42s, humpbacks! We were welcomed into the morning of the 8th with A34 calls on the Robson Bight hydrophone. These calls continued in and out all morning occasionally popping up on the Cracroft Point hydrophone as the A34s moved west in the Strait toward the Cracroft and Kaikash areas. Just after 11am we received a radio report of orcas westing at Kaikash Creek, and briefly thereafter we spotted some dorsal fins on the remote Cracroft Point camera with louder A34 calls continuing on the corresponding hydrophone. They left us in silence while we patiently awaited a visit from them in Blackney Pass - it had been days! Later that afternoon around 1:04pm we heard A1 (A34s) and A5 (A42s) calls on the Cracroft Point hydrophone. They had turned and were now eastbound once again! They began to echo to the Parson Island hydrophone which overlap the Cracroft Point hydrophone’s range, indicating that they were once again off the Blackney Pass entrance. The calls continued on the Parson Island hydrophone as the whales approached Blackney Pass and headed north. At 1:50pm Quin spotted the first two dorsal fins in Blackney Pass after 6 days without any passings! There had been previously a marked preference for the orcas to use Weynton Passage instead. Very excited orca calls continued on Parson Island and Cracroft Point and we assumed correctly that there were more just behind. As we watched the first two, A34 and A55, a second, and a closely following third group, entered our view from the lab at 2:15pm. The second group consisted of a mix of the A34s and the A42s, a mix of females, juveniles, and babies. 14 in total. This large group was followed by another adult male (A66) and sprouter, (possibly A80). Another sprouter (possibly A83 accompanied two smaller orcas. No calls were heard during the duration of the passing. Our photos confirmed that all of the A34s and the A42s had come through for this visit. After clearing BP at 2:42pm, departing (hopefully temporary) calls were heard briefly on the Flower Island hydrophone in Blackfish Sound roughly 10 minutes later. After a long pause, around 8:40pm, faint orca calls were heard on Cracroft Point. Could they have been slowly completing their circuit of Hanson Island? Once again through Weynton Pass? As the calls on Cracroft Point began to get close enough to echo to Parson Island, a humpback stepped in to steal the show at 9:30pm. While one humpback was calling between the CP (Cracroft Point) and Parson Island hydrophones, another was singing with him on the Critical Point (Robson Bight) system. Together they created some of the most incredible sonic landscapes for almost an hour! A fitting end to a quite marvelous day here at the Lab. No further calls were heard from the orca, and we patiently awaited their return to Blackney Pass.  OrcaLab 09 Oct 2019 18:14:13 PST

October 6th Humpbacks, A34s Just after midnight, a second humpback joined the fray somewhere in east Blackney Pass or Johnstone Strait. Vocalizations bounced between our Cracroft Point and Parson Island hydrophones, whilst the earlier humpback continued to be vocal in the Strait. Their wonderful “call and repeat” continued whilst the orcas fell silent around Robson Bight at 12:10am - perhaps they too were listening to the humpbacks’ conversation? By 12:25pm, the easting orcas had made it to the Main Rubbing Beach, and we heard distant A34 calls on that hydrophone until just before 1.30am. Interestingly, we didn’t hear any distinct A5 calls with them at this time. All the while, the humpbacks continued to vocalize, with some particularly beautiful sounds at 12:47am near Parson Island. The rest of the morning was quiet, and nearly 12 hours of silence passed until 1:15pm the next day, when the A34s came back into range of our Main Rubbing Beach hydrophone. They then slowly made their way west in Johnstone Strait, and we followed them acoustically from our Robson Bight hydrophone at 3:31pm, to Cracroft Point at 5:38pm. Shortly before, at 5.20pm, we were still hearing some distant A34 calls at the rubbing beaches, so the orcas was indeed very spread out. The calls became more distant and infrequent, and we last heard them on Cracroft Point at 7:38pm - we imagine that this was the trailing group following their family slowly east in Johnstone Strait. Almost at the same instance we heard our last orca call, a humpback chirped up once more near Parson Island. He sang some new, beautiful songs for almost an hour - ending our day as it had begun. We are now pondering the whereabouts of the A42s, who we haven’t heard from since they left Robson Bight around midnight. Perhaps tomorrow will bring some clarity!  OrcaLab 07 Oct 2019 17:48:57 PST October 5 2019: Incredible Humpback Whale! A34s, A5s (A42s?) What a way to start the day - the most magnificent humpback song! Although we have heard many beautiful humpback vocalizations over the past few weeks, each one brings the same sense of awe and wonder as we sit and listen. Starting off in east Blackney Pass shortly after midnight, grunts, groans and moans drifted through three of our hydrophones as the humpback drifted through Blackney Pass and into Blackfish Sound at 2am. We last heard from the westing A34s at 12:32am in Johnstone Strait. The humpback song came in rounds throughout the night, sounding again from 3:24am to 3:34am and 4:43am to 5:35am, growing ever-distant in Blackfish Sound as the day began to break. At 7:21am we heard the orcas once more on Cracroft Point, with A5s greeting us first, shortly followed by the A34s minutes later. Their calls continued for a couple of hours, growing ever-so-slightly closer as they headed east in Johnstone Strait. The A34 and A5 calls were mixed, suggesting that the groups were perhaps spread out and matrilines intermingled. We saw a few fins on our remote Cracroft Point camera at 9am around and west of the entrance to Blackney Pass, where they milled and foraged for a while before deciding definitely to go to the west. Helena saw A79 and her baby on camera, confirming the A42s. We last heard their distant and sporadic calls in the Strait at 11:46am. The groups must have been fairly spread out, as we received a report from Farewell Harbour at 11:47am that there were orca heading north in Weynton Passage and, sure enough, it wasn’t long until we heard them again in Blackfish Sound at 12:42pm. A few “A12 specials” confirmed the A34’s presence, but we didn’t hear anything distinctly from the A5s. Had they split up, or were they just resting their vocal chords? By 3pm, Blackfish Sound had grown silent. The afternoon was spent enjoying the myriad of Steller sea lions who were hunting salmon right in front of the lab. They perused up and down our shores in their droves, grunting and snorting as they went. Shortly after 5pm, there was an explosive sound in Blackney Pass - a humpback breaching! Again! And again! He stayed close to Whitebeach Pass and continued to breach and tail slap for close to an hour. At 5.43pm, our attention was distracted by distant orca calls once more, back in Johnstone Strait. Paul & Helena were on their way back from Alert Bay at the time, and saw at least five orca heading west near Blinkhorn, close to the Vancouver Island shore at 6:08pm. By 6.30pm we were hearing A5 and A34 calls around Cracroft Point, so the groups must have turned and headed east again. They remained distant until 7:08pm. But did not leave the Strait. At 10:40pm we heard them again, this time distant on our Critical Point hydrophone. At 11pm the calls started to sound very echoey - aha! - they were in Robson Bight. We heard some beautiful calls from both the A34s and A42s as they travelled through the Bight, their calls reverberating around the Reserve, and at 11:54pm they were joined by a humpback - also somewhere in Johnstone Strait. This delightful euphony of cetacean sounds continued into the night.  OrcaLab 07 Oct 2019 17:42:51 PST

Superb sounds!! Incredible Humpback Whale song right now! OrcaLab 06 Oct 2019 18:55:08 PST

October 2nd A1s and A5s (acoustics only - no visual - likely A34s and A42s) After the throng of orca on the previous day, October 2nd was a much quieter day. We didn’t hear a peep through the night, until 6.20am when the orcas began to call once more around Cracroft Point. We heard A1 calls first, later interspersed with A5 calls. Their calls were clear and beautiful on Cracroft Point until 8:15am, and although they didn’t pass through Blackney Pass for us to visually identify them, we knew these were the familiar sounds of the A34s and A42s. They continued west, and at 8:56 we received a report from Jim Borrowman that there were about eight orca passing Weynton Island north through Weynton Passage. They either remained silent or stayed just out of range of our hydrophone in Blackfish Sound. At 12:55pm they were reported heading west at Lizard Point. The rest of the day was silent (save for some brief chattering dolphins at 9:15pm) and we had to wonder - had the orca headed out west for good? October 3rd Biggs (acoustics only) We awoke to an hour of the most beautiful humpback vocalizations just after 4am on the 3rd October. The song was captured on our Parson Island hydrophone so the whale was somewhere in east Blackney Pass. There is something magical about listening to these ethereal tones in the stillness of the night, letting your imagination run wild with humpbacks dancing in the darkness. Then! Shattered! A tug approached and the singing stopped. This happens so, so often. If the boat operators only knew what magic might be happening beneath their hulls. The damage is almost always complete and even when the tug has moved off to where it is headed the song lies in tatters and the humpback moves elsewhere too. The day dawned grey with a shifting moods, grey, slightly windy, brighter, rainy. Nothing much happened during the day until a humpback began to call in Blackney Pass at 5:50pm. Looking from the remote sea lion rock camera several sea lions could be seen surrounding a humpback just offshore. The patient, slow humpback allowed the sea lions to play themselves out by lying on the surface and rolling along with their antics. Just before the scene drifted out of view another humpback joined in. The day seemed to belong to the humpbacks. Around 9:30pm yet another (or could it be the same one?) humpback began to call out in Blackney Pass and a short while later another one in Johnstone Strait. By 10pm humpbacks were calling off the entrance to Blackney Pass and Cracroft Point. Then right in the midst of their calls we heard the beginnings of Bigg’s vocalisations off Cracroft Point too. A crazy amount of activity for what had been a rather routine day at times. Before the Bigg’s calls gradually became more distant by 10:22pm a humpback was heard again in Blackfish Sound at 10:13pm. The Bigg’s may have been headed west. Apparently, a fairly large sized group had been seen in the lower Johnstone Strait very slowly headed west the day before. Perhaps and maybe they had finally made enough progress to get this far. This event signalled the end of our day. October 4th 2019: A34s,A5s (?A42s) With no activity during the night sleep was a welcomed option. The day, however, became busy with plans to do some much needed maintenance on some of the sites. Quin,Megan, Suzie and Paul all went off in the Sonic to make the rounds. After listening to some chatter on the VHF radio about eastbound orcas just west of Donegal Head Helena decided to head to the Lab and begin a recording. About 15 minutes passed before the first distant A34 calls were heard at 1:08pm. They were pretty vocal but always distant with only an occasional call sounding clearer and closer. Training the remote cameras on the western edges of Blackfish Sound and Weynton Passage area did not offer any immediate clues as to their exact location. Everything remained distant. The current was not due to flood until 4pm so the orcas may have not felt encouraged to move against the flow. Finally, at 2:28pm a very distant but tall fin looked to be heading into Weynton Pass. But it became obvious at 3:50pm that the whales had not actually moved far from their original positions. A humpback in Blackney Pass provided some relief from straining to hear and see distant orcas by calling between 4:35pm and 4:48pm. Then at 5:30pm came the change. The A34 calls had disappeared and we assumed correctly they had finally headed into Weynton Pass. But then A5 calls were now evident in Blackfish Sound. Finally at 6:17pm the long awaited A34 “arrived” in Johnstone Strait. Going with the flooding tide the A34s made it to the area off the entrance to Blackney Pass an hour later. The A5s were in Johnstone Strait by 7:20pm and following the A34s lead they too moved eastward on reaching the Strait. The A5s passed the entrance to Blackney around 8:20pm. Not to be outdone a humpback in Blackfish Sound chimed in around the same time. The calls of the A34s, as they approached Robson Bight, became very clear by 8:42pm By 9:04pm we were listening to a mix of A34s and A5s as they continued to move east in the Strait with the A34s maintaining their lead the whole time. As the A5s got closer to Robson Bight the A34s slipped closer to the Main Rubbing Beach at 10:42pm. No real rubs were heard but at times the A34s were seemingly quite close. The A5s possibly arrived at the Main Beach area by 11:08pm. Then there was a definite shift. The A34 calls on the Main beach hydrophone grew increasingly fainter as they turned and headed back. For a while, between 11:35pm and 11:52 distant calls could be heard on both the Robson Bight hydrophone and the Main Rubbing Beach. Just after midnight our orca listening became seriously compromised by an amazing humpback in Blackney Pass near Parson Island. Putting the westbound orcas on “hold” we gave our total attention to the deserving humpback. More in the next update!  OrcaLab 05 Oct 2019 20:40:01 PST

Superb sounds!! And now a humpback in Blackney OrcaLab 04 Oct 2019 21:31:20 PST Superb sounds!! Lovely evening Humpback in Blackfish Sound :www.orca-live.com OrcaLab 04 Oct 2019 19:34:39 PST

Superb sounds!! BEAUTIFUL HUMPBACK CALLS IN BLACKNEY PASS JUST OFF THE LAB! ORCALAB 03 Oct 2019 20:40:42 PST

Summary for 29th September Residents: A42s, I4s, I27s, I16s From late on the afternoon of the 28th we continued to hear A5 and I15 calls distant in Johnstone Strait until 2am, when they fell silent. Probably the orcas left the Strait and went through Weynton Passage. From 4am to 7.30am we enjoyed the company of a lovely humpback singing sporadically in Blackfish Sound. It wasn’t until early afternoon, at 1:50pm that we heard the orcas again. The A5s sounded first, distant in Blackfish Sound, with the I15s joining the chorus an hour later off Cracroft Point. Megan was out in Blackfish Sound at the time of the A5 calls, and later ID’d I51 (from the I16s), A42 and A114 of the A42s for us. We found them on Cracroft Point camera at 4pm in Johnstone Strait, and we assumed these to be the I15s as we saw a sprouting male in the distance - the A42s do not yet have such a male. They appeared to be milling around the entrance to Blackney Pass for some time, but at 4:28pm we heard A5 calls join the I15s, and they all began to head into Blackney Pass. Their vocalizations were infrequent, but we heard some clear I15 trills as they passed north. By 5:24pm they had cleared our view. We believe we had the A42s, I4s, I27s and I16s in this passing. We didn’t hear anything further from these groups as they travelled through Blackfish Sound. At 8pm, we heard some fantastic humpback vocalizations once again on our local hydrophone, which continued on and off until the early hours of the 30th. Summary for 30th September Residents: A42s, I4s Biggs: T101s, T002Cs, T090s At 6am on September 30th, we heard yet more beautiful humpback calls: a prelude to the last September sunrise of the year. We enjoyed their song for an hour in Blackfish Sound, as the sky opened up from pink to orange to a deep, brilliant blue. Just after 10am, we heard some A calls in Blackfish Sound which persisted until 11am. They were very distant and there was a lot of boat noise - so we didn’t acoustically confirm who they were, but we assumed A42s as we later received a report that they had been seen around this time off Lizard Point and also the Numas Islands. We had a very busy afternoon tending to our hydrophones on Flower Island and Parson Island, and the camera on Sea Lion Rock. We also received a report from Jared that the T101s were seen off Alert Bay in the morning, the T002Cs and T90s off the Pearse Islands, and the I4s off White Cliffs. The day concluded as it had begun: a humpback singing briefly at 8pm in Blackney Pass. Summary for 1 October Residents: A34s, A42s Bigg’s: T059As October arrived with another glorious sunrise. We were enjoying our morning coffee watching the pink and orange hues fade to blue - when at 7.50am Quin spotted very distant blows glistening in the dawn light, way over by Harbledown Island. No calls. We scrambled to the lab and immediately had our suspicions: Bigg’s! Although they were on the far side of Blackney Pass, we could tell that their dorsals and movements were distinctly different to the residents. Sure enough, the group of five distant fins made their way right into Parson’s Bay and began thrashing and splashing around - they were harassing a large group of Pacific White-sided dolphins. We witnessed this for over an hour, watching the dolphins make a hurried and determined exit north out of Blackney Pass. We can only imagine there was at least one unlucky member who had not escaped the Biggs’ attack... Jared Towers arrived on the scene and confirmed that these were the T059As. We didn’t see them for a while and thought that they must have done a deep dive and headed out of our view; when at 10am we saw them surface close to Sea Lion Rock, headed north our way! Another long dive and we feared they would head round Burnt Point out of view, when they surfaced directly in front of us about 100m from the deck. With breath held and shutters clicking, we saw them surface a few more times before they finally cleared our view to the north. We noted the wary sea lions huddling close to shore as the Bigg’s orcas passed; but they were perhaps fully satiated from their earlier meal, and paid the sea lions little attention. Although the biting cold has certainly begun to settle in, the rest of the day was basked in sunshine. Humpbacks, including Guardian, continued to be active in Blackney Pass, and the ever-patrolling sea lions rolled by the deck in their droves. Just as we were starting to prepare dinner, we received a report at 4:21pm from AJ at Farewell Harbour that there were vocal orcas in Blackfish Sound, heading towards Blackney Pass. Minutes later, we heard our first calls. A5s. We found them on our remote Sea Lion Rock camera and anticipated that it would be a good while before they came into our lab view. The calls stopped. Suddenly, way ahead of our estimate of 4:45pm, Suzie caught sight of a single male dorsal streaking quickly through Blackney Pass, heading south. Perhaps a little complacently, we thought this must be A66 of the A42s, which would make sense of the A5 calls we were hearing. He was mid-far channel and around Whitebeach Passage when we saw some more fins come in. One was a sprouting male… “Hmm. There’s no sprouting male in the A42s.” we pondered amongst ourselves. “Also, the large male that entered first does not look like A66.” We were scratching our heads, trying to make sense of it all, when we were gifted a little call of clarity at 5pm - an excited A1 call on our local hydrophone. Our hearts were racing... new whales! This was followed by more distinctive A1 calls, and we were desperately listening out for acoustic clues to help identify this new group. Helena was listening in and confirmed what we were hearing - the A34s! Sure enough, we compared the dorsal and saddle of the male we were seeing to that of A55, and it was a perfect match. The sprouter was A80. We also heard their signature “A12 special” call. They cleared our view at 5.20pm, and we headed inside to the lab. We identified A34 and A80 very easily, and were sure it was them, but one thing didn’t add up: We only saw seven whales. The A67s plus A34,A55,A96 and A80 was a reasonable assumption. Where were the other four, the A62s, from the A34 matriline? And why had we heard A5 calls but seen no A5s? Just as we were pondering that question, the answer appeared in physical form: All seven members of the A42s and the remaining four (the A62s) from the A34s popped up right in front of us, 50m from the lab deck! They were following their kin, zooming through Blackney to the south. They hugged the Hanson Island shore as they continued into Johnstone Strait, clearing our view by 5.35pm. Close passings from both Biggs and residents in one day - what an absolute treat. Exhilarated and emotionally exhausted, we put our heads together to identify exactly who had travelled with whom, making sure our IDs matched with what we had seen. We continued to track them on our remote Cracroft Point camera and hydrophone until the light faded, and we last heard them in Johnstone Strait at 8.22pm. A lone humpback brought the day to a close with some lovely vocalizations in Blackfish Sound, and at 9.30pm the waters fell silent once more. Another glorious reminder that there’s no room for complacency or assumptions here - these beautiful, wild whales continue to surprise and energise us as we wait patiently for them on this little rock. Happy October everyone!  OrcaLab 02 Oct 2019 16:16:02 PST