No calls but orcas nearby Summary for 02 July 2020 A35s, A73s, A42s We listened to the A4s until 22:52pm last night, before they fell silent for a couple of hours. Just after 1am, we heard them calling again in Johnstone Strait. Their calls played in our ears until the early light of the morning. We heard both A4 and A5 calls, along with some beautiful echolocation, as the groups made their way west in the Strait. At 7.42am we received a report from Alex that a group had passed Donegal Head, traveling west. These were confirmed as the A42s. Surely they were not leaving for good, so soon? The rest of the morning was quiet, but at 12:15pm Paul and Helena saw a group of orcas heading south in Blackfish Sound, as they themselves traveled back to Alert Bay. We gathered on the deck and waited for the orcas. At 12:16pm they were with us, and we had two groups of orcas pass us at slightly staggered times. The first group we identified as all of the A42s, back from their morning jaunt out west, who cleared our view into Johnstone Strait around 12:50pm. As they reached our Parson Island hydrophone, they confirmed their identity with some lovely A5 calls. Just as they were clearing, another group came in from the north - very spread out. We tried to gather pictures of all individuals but their erratic surfacing habits made it a little tricky. We identified several members of the A35s including A77, A90, A35 and A117. We are not certain if the A52s were with them this morning, nor Springer and her two offspring. The A4 and A5 calls rang out on our Cracroft Point and Critical Point hydrophones as the afternoon drew on, and groups made their way east in Johnstone Strait. The A42s made their way into Robson Bight and at 2:21pm we saw A66 on our camera, and heard his calls and echolocation. The A35s had taken this time to continue down the Cracroft Island shore, and we received a report that they were nearing the Cliff at 2:39pm. We waited for the A42s on Rubbing Beach camera, and at 2:52pm they came into view, but they hung off shore and continued east. No rubs today! After a couple of hours with no sightings or sounds, we saw some orcas coming back to the west on Rubbing Beach camera at 5.37pm. At 18:23 we heard a burst of close A4 calls at Critical Point, so these westing whales contained at least some A4s, but we were not sure if the A42s were there also. The whales continued west, and at 7.30pm we heard their A4 calls on Cracroft Point, and located them on the camera. At 7:54pm we could still see some orcas close to Critical Point, back east in Johnstone Strait - but we did not hear obvious distinct calls from them. At 7:57pm the A4 calls from CP moved on to Parson, and shortly after we saw fins in Blackney Pass. In this passing, we identified A77, A35, A117 and A70s PLUS Springer (A73) and her two offspring! All heading north into Blackfish Sound. We noted the absence of the A52s (part of the A35 matriline) and A90. We last heard their calls at 8:22pm and they cleared into the Sound at 8:47pm. At 9:06pm we heard some more faint A4 calls on Cracroft Point - most likely the remainder of the A35s who did not come into Blackney. At 9:42pm we heard some calls very faint on Parson Island, but we could not tell who these were. No less than 5 minutes later we saw more fins Blackney Pass headed north! The fading light made IDs a little tricky but we identified at least a few members of the A42s. As far as we know, all orcas have now headed west - although we do not know which route the remainder of the A35s (A52s + A90) took. We are waiting to see what they do next.  Orcalab 02 Jul 2020 22:00:34 PDT Superb sounds!! Orcas on base cam! Some calls too. https://explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Orcalab 02 Jul 2020 20:14:47 PDT Superb sounds!! We have beautiful A5 calls on our Parson Island hydrophone. Listen in!! Quin 02 Jul 2020 04:41:32 PDT

Distant calls audible. This will be a Canada Day to remember! The Northern Residents arrived in the early hours of the morning, and they have kept us busy all day. Megan spotted the first fins in Blackney Pass at 7.32am, heading south. Everyone was already up and about so it didn’t take long for us all to gather on the deck and begin our duties. We had had no calls, the orcas were very far over the other side of the pass, and it was fairly misty and overcast in the morning light - but Helena noticed Pacific White Sided dolphins in and among the orcas, meaning they surely were residents! We saw one large male among some smaller fins, and a separate group of three smaller fins travelling together, and we had some theories but no concrete thoughts on the ID of these orcas. Just as they began to clear our view to the south we heard the first calls, A4s and A5s! Then Dylan (seasoned OL volunteer and currently part of our hydrophone installation team) heard more blows back to the north, and they sounded very close. Sure enough, round Burnt Point we saw several more dorsal fins streaking through the water - close in to the lab! We were able to see their fins and saddle patches much more clearly, and we quickly identified them as the A35s from the A4 clan. A4s! Hooray! They sped past the lab quickly, and as they cleared our view - we saw the earlier group pass close by our Cracroft Point camera at 8am. That large male we had seen looked like A66, and sure enough more A5 calls as they hurried east in Johnstone Strait. Only a minute later, we started to hear A4 calls and then… a “weeawuu”! Springer’s call! Had she and her two offspring been the group of three we had seen initially in Blackney Pass? All of the groups made their way east in Johnstone Strait, the A35s continuing down the Cracroft shore, while the A42s crossed over the Strait and towards the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve. At 09:10am, we saw a few fins heading east, close to our Critical Point camera - pointed directly for the rubbing beaches… At 9:19am our focus shifted momentarily from the orcas, as we saw Stitch the humpback breaching in front of us in Blackney Pass. We eagerly awaited the orcas at the Rubbing Beach camera, and at 9.32am our patience was rewarded. The A42s came in and rubbed as they travelled east. Dylan suspected A56 from the A4s was travelling with the A42s and this was later confirmed by Jared Towers who caught up with them east of Naka creek. We, meanwhile, were pretty excited to have seen the first rub of the season! We don’t yet have our underwater cameras installed sadly, but we did get some lovely surface footage. The A42s continued east, and around this time Jared Towers reported the A35s had begun to cross over the Strait and were pointing towards the beaches, too. Better yet - he confirmed Springer (A73) and her two offspring were in the mix! We were ecstatic. These two groups crossed over and rubbed at Strider beach for a little while, and then finally came back east and into view of our Main Rubbing Beach camera, and both the A35s and A73s came in for a rub at 10:42am. They rubbed, headed east, and then turned again west. This was just the morning! The afternoon came in with a flurry of reports in all different directions . At least some of the A35s crossed once again over to the Cracroft Island side and headed west. Meanwhile, the A73s foraged in Robson Bight for a little while, then made their way west along the Vancouver Island shore and were seen by the hydrophone team at Kazumi beach at 12:48pm. We were hearing sustained A4 calls at this point. The A35s on the Cracroft side headed west past the “Cliff” around 12:09pm, and by 13:13pm they were at the Baron Reefs, approaching Cracroft Point. Once they reached CP, they then turned again and headed back to the east at 1:56pm. The A73s did the same - turned and headed back to the east, After their morning rub, the A42s along with A56 continued east past Naka Creek. They too turned back to the west passing eventually under the “Cliff” on Cracroft Island at 12:55pm. From there they crossed back over the Strait. We suddenly heard close echo location off the eastern headland of Robson Bight. We saw one male and some smaller fins forage in the Bight. This group was also headed west. This may have been either the A42s or part of the A4s. It was not entirely clear as there was a lot of movement on the part of the whales throughout the day. By 2.01pm the A42s were up to Kaikash Creek, and at 3.04pm we received a report from Dylan and the hydrophone team that two of the A42s were rubbing at Kazumi Beach - literally right in front of them! The last confirmed visual ID was of some members of the A42s - including A66 - heading east again at Kazumi Beach at 4:14pm. We heard sustained rather distant A4 and A5 calls in Johnstone Strait for the remainder of the afternoon, but had no more visual confirmations of the whereabouts of the A35s or A73s for the rest of the day. These groups often spread out and intermingle - so it can make tracking the matrilines a little tricky! The fading calls on our Critical Point hydrophone made us wonder if some of the A4s were heading further west in the Strait. At 6.51pm we saw at least one male and three smaller fins heading east around Cracroft Point. We wondered again about the A42s. At 7.03pm we actually saw some orcas in Blackney Pass! Another group with a single male and a few smaller fins. They were nearly clear to the south by the time we saw them. No helpful calls. It could be that this group was some of the A4s, who may have snuck round Hanson Island through Weynton Passage and into Blackney Passage. It was very windy today making visuals rather challenging. We last saw these orcas on Cracroft Point camera at 7:27pm, and it looked like they had joined up with the earlier group that we had seen in Johnstone Strait - all were heading east when we last saw them. Finally at 9:14pm the A4s started calling again. The night is unfolding as we write. Suzie 01 Jul 2020 21:43:51 PDT Superb sounds!! Beautiful A4 calls on our hydrophones right now! OrcaLab 01 Jul 2020 13:13:57 PDT No calls but orcas nearby We currently have a pod or Orca heading south in Blackney Pass. Watch live on Explore base cam.https://explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Orcalab 01 Jul 2020 07:35:20 PDT

No orcas present. WHAT an exciting day! We received an early morning report from Kate at Bere Point that there were a group of about 8 orcas right off the north shore of Malcom Island, heading east in Queen Charlotte Strait - and they looked like resident orcas. We started filtering through our ID book, trying to figure out who the group(s) could be with the ID information we had been given - two males and one open saddle patch. Nothing was quite adding up, when we received a further report which totally blew us away... Jared Towers was on scene and had identified them as K Pod - Southern Resident orcas! We couldn't believe it, but better yet - they were headed right towards us, now just at Dong Chong Bay on Hanson Island at 11:55am, headed into Blackney Passage. Southern Residents headed right towards us! The next half an hour seemed to last a lifetime as we waited, but our patience finally paid off as the first fins came into view. They were spread out, mid-passage, moving swiftly with the flood current. This was the first time we have had resident orcas on our cameras this season - let alone southern resident orcas! - so it was really exciting to track their movements through our range and share it with you, our followers and Explore.org community. Thanks for tuning in! They cleared into Johnstone Strait at around 12:50pm and we continued to watch them on our remote cameras. We also heard some faint whistles and clicks as they were off CP which were very likely coming from K Pod; but no distinct calls. We last saw them all the way east on Rubbing Beach cam at 2:39pm, where we assume they carried on their way south - towards their traditional feeding grounds around south Vancouver Island & the San Juan Islands (although who knows where they will end up...). Thanks to everyone involved in the day. Most of the reports came from onlookers from land, which is a real testament to the power of this community. Many thanks to Jared Towers for confirming the identity of the 10 members of K Pod - the K12s and K13s - and his encouraging observation that they made at least one successful kill and shared the winnings. This is especially important for the Southern Resident orcas, listed as a Critically Endangered population due to scarcity of food. Not the resident arrival we were expecting to start this 2020 season, but a very welcome arrival indeed! OrcaLab 29 Jun 2020 21:31:05 PDT No calls but orcas nearby Exciting news: We just received a report from Jared Towers that Southern Resident orca, K Pod are in Blackfish sound and heading south towards Blackney Pass. We are eagerly watching and listening for their arrival on explores basecam. https://explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base A very excited Megan, Quin and Suzie!!!!!!! 29 Jun 2020 12:09:58 PDT

No calls but orcas nearby Another drizzly start to the morning was made all the more pleasant by two humpbacks - Stitch and Guardian - hanging near Parson's Bay at 7.05am. At 10.26am we received a report from Alexandra Morton that there were a group of orcas between Stubb's Island and Donegal Head, just out of view of the lab in Blackfish Sound. Incidentally, Megan was on her way to Alert Bay at the time and when she received the report, she cut the engine and waited... and waited... Fins on the horizon! She finally saw the anticipated group of orcas, who made their way past her and towards Weynton Passage. It is not often that we see orcas on our journeys into town, but when we do our lab instincts swiftly kick in. Megan captured some beautiful images of all members of the group so we could ID them, and watched their movements to relay to Jared Towers who was just entering the scene. Jared later confirmed that this was the T069As plus the large male T011A - a male who we have seen traveling solo over the past couple of weeks. So interesting are the lives of Bigg's orcas! We have still not seen nor heard any Northern Resident orcas this season, but we anticipate that their arrival is just around the corner... OrcaLab 26 Jun 2020 20:54:14 PDT

This afternoon we had three different Humpbacks travel through Blackney Pass. As usual our neighbour Guardian was pacing back and forth. First seen around 14:00 and is still here now at 19:30pm. Stitch and Quartz also traveled north towards Blackfish Sound around 15:30pm. At 18:50 Dylan reported seeing one male orca heading north west in the Johnstone Strait towards Weynton passage. We wonder if it could be T011A again who was spotted yesterday by Alex Morton. A beautiful and calm sunny day today here in Blackney pass which was much needed for our solar panels and our garden after 3 solid days of rain!  Orcalab 25 Jun 2020 20:15:21 PDT

No calls but orcas nearby We had a report at 10:11am this morning from Alex Morton that there was one male Orca heading from Donegal head to Stubbs Island. The whale was later confirmed as T011A. Thanks for the report Alex!  Orcalab  24 Jun 2020 15:32:29 PDT This morning around 8am we had a seriously close encounter with Humpbacks Guardian and Ojos Blancos also known as White Eyes. We first heard them surface around Burnt point and they couldn't not have been more than 10 meters away from the waters edge. With it being low tide we couldn't believe how close they were. The pair inspected the bay between the lab and Kurt's point and then disappeared around it out of our sight. After inspecting that bay the pair made their way back past us stopping off on Yashi's beach just to check that out surfacing inches from our mored boat Sonic. Guardian rolled around a few times not in a hurry to move along until Ojos made his or hers way back around Burnt Point. Friend of Orcalab, handy electrician and wildlife guid AJ once taught me (Megan) one of his favourite activities when he is out on the water in his little boat in which he explores as close to the shoreline around all the little nooks and bays of one island until he knows it like the back of his hand. He calls this "Gunkholing". I do believe that this morning Guardian and Ojos Blancos were in fact... GUNKHOLING around Orclab! Thanks for the memories you beautiful whales, Here is a few photos from the encounter!  Megan  24 Jun 2020 15:25:41 PDT

Yesterday afternoon we had a lovely encounter around 4:00pm with four humpback whales in Blackney Pass. KC was first spotted heading north. Then shortly after this three whales appeared traveling very close together. We initially identified two out of three of the whales as Stitch and Guardian. Later with the help of Jackie Hildering of the Marine education and research society the last whale was identified as Quartz who is another regular to Blackney Pass. Our new lab camera the Canon 90D along with the amazing Sigma 150-600mm lens has allowed us to identify so many more humpbacks from land to which we are incredibly grateful for. Orcalab  22 Jun 2020 13:19:40 PDT

There are 3 Humpback whales traveling together in Blackney Pass. Watch it live on Explore.org! https://explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Orcalab 21 Jun 2020 17:03:48 PDT

We have a Humpback pec slapping in blackney Pass in the beautiful evening light. Watch live on Explore. https://explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Megan Quin and Suzie  15 Jun 2020 18:04:08 PDT We have a Humpback pec slapping in blackney Pass in the beautiful evening light. Watch live on Explore. https://explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Orclaab  15 Jun 2020 18:03:19 PDT

At around 19:14pm this evening Quin spotted a lone male Orca heading north in Blackney Pass. The whale slowly made it's way into Blackfish sound as we lost him out of our sight at around 19:30pm. We heard no calls and saw no other whales during this encounter. We sent the photos off to Jared Towers and he thought it could possibly be T011A but couldn't be sure with the whales being quite a distance from our shoreline.  Orcalab 10 Jun 2020 20:43:34 PDT There is a single male orca heading North in Blackney Pass. Check it out on our Base Cam! https://explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Orcalab 10 Jun 2020 19:18:44 PDT

There are a couple of humpbacks swimming in the tide rip on OrcaLab Base cam! Tune in at https://explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Orcalab 07 Jun 2020 11:42:20 PDT

No calls but orcas nearby To round up this afternoons events. At around 02:30pm I spotted some splashing out in Blackney Pass close to the Parson Island shoreline. Sure enough after looking through the scope I spotted a huge black fin rising out of the water and shortly after I witnessed a smaller whale launch its entire body out of the water. I started a recording and ran out to the deck to take photos as Helena operated the camera. I made an assumption early on that it was Bigg's orca as opposed to Residents just through the behaviour it looked as if they were hunting something. Perhaps a sea-lion or a porpoise. They were so far away it was hard to tell. They continued on their hunt for around ten minuets. At around 02:45pm they took a deep dive whilst heading south along the waters edge of Parsons Island. We feared we had lost them entirely after about 30 minuets of searching on all our camera systems but Jared Towers who had come out in the research boat The Merlin came to our rescue and spotted them heading into Baronet Passage along the Cracroft Island shoreline at 03:32pm. He quickly identified them as the T090's. We followed them on the camera in the distance as they headed down Baronet and we believe they and Jared are still there. Unfortunately there were no calls on the recording but we did manage to get a few nice moments on our base cam live on explore. You can scroll back to watch between 02:30pm and 02:45pm. https://explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Megan 04 Jun 2020 17:04:09 PDT No calls but orcas nearby We have a group of Biggs hunting in Blackney Pass around 2nd bay. No calls yet. Watch live on the explore base cam here. https://explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Megan 04 Jun 2020 14:38:11 PDT

Guardian is back this morning continuing with the acrobatics of last night. There is one other whale who we cant get an ID of yet. Watch live on Base cam with explore.org https://explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Megan  03 Jun 2020 09:42:36 PDT

Wow what an evening with Humpbacks. We think 5 in total today. First off we had Ojos Blancos at 02:00pm heading south. Then much later at around 08:00pm I spotted Nova heading south on her own. Shortly after I spotted Squiggle further away also heading south. At around 08:14pm two more whales appeared to be traveling alongside Nova this time in the opposite direction, heading north. I immediately recognized our dear friend Guardian who has been seen several times with the young whale Nova so far this year. the other whale i initially thought could be Ojos Blancos but Jackie later considered it could also have been bumpy... Time will tell with further investigation. At around 09:00pm things got very exciting when Guardian started peck slapping followed by Nova making multiple acrobatic breaches in the glorious last moments of the days light as they all headed south towards Cracroft Point. This continued on till I lost the light. Whilst I was out on the deck taking photos, Helena was busy monitoring the explore cameras from back in Alert Bay so if you scroll back on base cam to around 09:00pm you should be able to catch a glimpse of the show! A big thanks also to Jackie Hildering in Port Macneill from MERS for the extra help at the end of the day identifying all of these whales! All in all a wonderful team effort monitoring Blackney Pass for these lovely moment as summer begins.  Megan  02 Jun 2020 22:26:20 PDT We currently have three Humpbacks, Nova, Ojos Blancos and Guardian here in Blackney Pass. You can watch them live now and scroll back on Explore to watch more. https://explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Megan  02 Jun 2020 20:50:41 PDT