Distant calls audible. Yesterday's summary! July 7 2021 Orcas: A50s, A54s, A23s and A25s Humpbacks: Squiggle, Stitch, Argonaut, Ripple + calf Ripple the humpback and her new baby continued to excite us at the lab this morning. They were observed trap feeding together in Blackney Pass much to KamÕs delight - she has been watching these whales from dawn till dusk for several days! We received a report of some BiggÕs heading east off Telegraph Cove at 10:11am, later identified as the T137s. By 11:25am we could hear them on our hydrophone at Kaizumi Beach in Johnstone Strait, and we tracked their movements east using our Ôeyes and earsÕ all the way past the rubbing beaches around 1pm. They came quite close to shore but did not pay the beaches any particular attention. (Now wouldnÕt that cause quite the stir if they did?) Another report drifted in from the west just after midday, alerting us to the presence of Northern Residents in Queen Charlotte Strait, heading our way. By 3:27pm we could hear the A30s faintly in Blackfish Sound. It was actually Momoko who alerted us to the calls all the way from Japan - the power of live streaming audio! Once in the lab, we located them on the camera just after 4pm and by 4:23pm the first few were with us in Blackney Pass. We saw A84 from the A50s and a little while later, A60 and A69 plus her baby from the A23s. A5 calls picked up in Blackfish Sound a few minutes later, and we discerned that the A50s, A54s and A23s were all travelling together but very spread out. As the first groups cleared into Johnstone Strait, the A25s came into our view, tailing the rest at 5:08pm, with A61 remaining in Blackney Pass until 5:42pm! Their calls were mingled and we heard lots of echolocation, as at least some of the A23s crossed to the Vancouver Island shore and headed east around 5:45pm, followed by the A50s who also made their way across the Strait. At 6:34pm, we heard the most beautiful rub from the A50s at Kaizumi beach. It only lasted ten minutes but we lost count of the number of times the pebbles clashed and clicked, as the orcas rubbed their entire bodies over the smooth surface. The groups were now very spread out and all eastbound. We saw our first fins all the way at Strider Beach at 7:11pm, and they proceeded to rub a few minutes later. It is a little difficult to accurately summarise the rubs, as the whales kept dipping in and out from the beach until 8.36pm. By this time, we believe the tailing groups had all caught up, and eventually we were satisfied that they had turned and headed west again. The only small note of confusion is the faint calls still heard around Main Rubbing Beach at 9:59pm - it is possible that one group stayed to the east or just Òhung backÓ even more. As the dark closed in, Tomoko (also in Japan) spotted some fins on our Cracroft Point camera just before 10pm, and we heard a few fragmented calls and very faint echolocation at the entrance to Blackney Pass. By 10:34pm we were hearing their foraging clicks in Blackfish Sound, and Quin thought he heard some blows out front in the darkness. The A30s suddenly broke into song as they passed the lab at 10:41pm, and they were joined by A5 calls (23s & 25s) a while later at 11:15pm. Both groups produced the most spectacular calls and a long bout of echolocation; a midnight snack celebration, it seemed. This answered a few lingering questions and we can surmise that some - possibly all - groups went west again. Out the way they came in. There is still the small possibility that some stayed east (and on the topic of uncertainty: where did the A42s get to?) but we hope, as ever, that the night will bring us clarity.  OrcaLab 08 Jul 2021 18:53:27 PDT

Superb sounds!! Lovely A30 calls and lots of echolocation right now! OrcaLab 07 Jul 2021 22:48:27 PDT

No calls but orcas nearby July 5 and 6 2021 Orcas: A42s, A94, (possibly A30s, A23s/25s heard),G20s with G32 Port Hardy area Humpbacks: Argonaut, Stitch, Ripple + calf, Zorro, Squiggle, Neptune We are combining these two days because events blended with the arrival and journey through the area of Holly’s (aka Sonora) A42 family! So Monday July 5 was fairly uneventful until word came that the A42s were travelling Queen Charlotte Strait and made a rub stop at Bere Point on their way. The good news came later that they were headed to Blackney Pass. At 2:08pm, we began to hear their calls when they were off Donegal Head and we could make out the distinctive calls of the A4s as well. Prior knowledge had prepared us that Mystery (A94) was still travelling with the A42s as he had for most of the winter and spring. A94’s natal group is the A24s who are part of the A4s, kissing cousins to Holly’s A5 pod. By 3:25pm our Flower Island remote camera zeroed in on A66 who would turn out to be somewhat of a star later in the day, more on that later. While in Blackney Pass and beyond in Johnstone Strait the A42s plus A94 were spread out in smaller groups in the dark, blue, choppy waters. Current (A79) came closest to the Lab with her young one (A119). During this time, Jared Towers was encountering the G20s with G32 near Port Hardy. By 4:14pm they had all cleared our view but continued to negotiate the entrance to Blackney Pass and make their way towards Cracroft Point where the remote camera there tracked their progress eastwards. The majority of the group crossed over to the Ecological Reserve and began a rub at 6:06pm. This rub lasted until 6:30pm (24 minutes) and involved 2 groups (3 + 4) who came from the west and actually rubbed once or twice. Not a very sustained effort. Our impression was that they then headed east. We were not convinced Surf (A66) was with them but instead hanging back. We held on to this belief because suddenly we heard louder calls on the Kaizumi hydrophone and Kaizumi Beach lies west of Strider. Then all became quiet for the next two hours leaving us wondering until A66 turned up once again in Blackney Pass heading south all by himself! He had done a lap of Hanson Island. This did not clarify things because as he passed through we heard both A1 and A5 calls in Blackfish Sound. What? The A1s sounded like the A30s. The A5s could either have been other members of his family, or the 23s/25s who have been traveling with the A30s recently. When A66 approached the entrance to Blackney Pass the calls in Blackfish Sound faded. A66 was greeted by we believe his family (A42s) coming west in Johnstone Strait, as the excited A5 calls rang out at the eastern entrance of Blackney Pass. After the family reunion they shifted east once more but over the next several hours (and into the next day, July 6) must have found their way to Weynton Passage and left Johnstone Strait. The last calls were at 5:13am. By the afternoon they were located in Fife Sound - much to the north across Queen Charlotte Strait. By 2:38pm, they were approaching the Burdwood Group. The final report came from the Naiad Explorer at 3pm when the A42s were off Lacey Falls, Tribune Channel. Quite the 8 hour journey! We are not totally satisfied with our explanation of their movements but by putting the acoustic clues together with the scant visual clues we were offered it was the best we could surmise. Our hope is of course that all the players will return! Our assistant Kamilla is still keeping track of the humpbacks in Blackney Pass who are going about their humpback business everyday. Amazing to see who is loyal to Blackney Pass. It has been determined that Ripple’s baby is a boy - a future singer!  OrcaLab 06 Jul 2021 21:12:35 PDT

No orcas present. July 4 2021 Orcas: T049As (minus A1, A2) Humpbacks: Argonaut, Stitch, Ripple & calf, Guardian Grey Whale in Johnstone Strait Just after midnight, we picked up some humpback vocalizations in Johnstone Strait. They were long, deep whoops and a little atypical for this time of year. The rest of the night and indeed the subsequent day were fairly quiet. The Northern Residents who had headed west did not resurface - but we are not worried. They often “go out” like this and come back with a new group of orcas, so we are waiting patiently! At midday, we received a report from the Cliff of a group of four Biggs orcas heading west past Robson Bight. They had successfully made a kill and we tracked them westward on our remote cameras through Johnstone Strait. We later found out from Jared Towers that these were the T049As (minus A1 and A2) - many thanks, Jared. Humpbacks Argonaut, Stitch, Ripple & baby and Guardian have also kept us very busy today; Blackney Pass is certainly living up to its name as a hotspot for hungry, feeding whales. Just before dark we received another report from the Cliff of a grey whale moving past their camp in Johnstone Strait at 8pm. As the night draws in, we wonder if a new set of orca calls may be on the horizon. Here’s hoping!  OrcaLab 05 Jul 2021 13:33:45 PDT

No calls but orcas nearby July 3 2021 Orcas: A50s, A54s, A23s, A25s Humpbacks: Quartz, Argonaut, Ripple and baby,Black Pearl, Stitch Pacific White-sided Dolphins, Stellar Sea Lions, Dallas Porpoise After midnight we were still hearing the distant calls of the Northern Resident groups present the day before. We believe the A30s (A50s and A54s) along with the A23s and A25s had already left Johnstone Strait via Weynton Passage the previous evening, and as they crossed the western end of Blackfish Sound, we were later able to hear them on the Flower Island system. They were not seemingly in any particular hurry and took their time to finally head into Queen Charlotte Strait. We were still hearing the A30s on Flower Island at 2:55am. After a gap of about three hours (at 7:19am) we again heard distant A30 calls approximately in the same location. We heard calls till 7:56am after which it became quiet except for some Pacific Whitesided dolphin chatter at 8:45am. The resident orcas were to spend the majority of the morning and afternoon in Queen Charlotte Strait. Kate at Bere Point later let us know that at 11:00am they were off Black Bluff and by 11:30am they had regrouped and were beginning to head east. Promising! Just before 3pm (at 2:53pm) we were able to make out distant calls on the Flower Island hydrophone as the whales edged closer to us. Fifteen minutes later, using our new remote Flower Island camera, we were able to see their eastbound fins off the “top” western end of Blackfish Sound. The residents were basically repeating their patterns from the day before and we prepared ourselves for eventually seeing them once again in Blackney Pass. The wait was not long. At 3:35pm they arrived with A60 leading the A25s into our view, the rest followed but spread out in small groups, whale watch and research boats likewise. The orcas were vocal most of the time as they transited the pass. We kept track of their progress both visually and acoustically. The first group (the A25s and A60) was already into Johnstone Strait before the last groups (the A72s, A75s and A50s) emerged from Blackfish Sound. The A72s and A75s came through mid channel while the A50s were closer to the Hanson Island side. Three Steller Sea Lions, who had decided earlier to haul out on the Hanson Island rocks nonchalantly tolerated the orcas passing by. These two last orca groups merged and swam through the thick kelp near Gab’s Rock before disappearing from our view at 4:46pm. We are delighted to confirm that A69 (Midsummer) and her new baby were looking well, and that A75 (Cedar) has returned with a new baby, too! Many thanks to Jared Towers for the confirmation. We had watched the orcas, who previously had made it to the Strait, carry on eastward while angling mid strait from the Cracroft Island side. At 4:53pm we were startled by a single rub sound close to Kaizumi beach. There was no delaying these orcas who were pretty intent on getting to the Ecological Reserve. Just over one hour later they were seen approaching Strider Rubbing beach where they engaged in a longer rub from 6:24pm to 6:35pm. Their day was far from done. Leaving Strider they went west past Critical Point and Robson Bight back to Kaizumi Beach where they sustained a rub of 41 minutes from 7:49pm to 8:30pm. Afterwards they pulled away from the Vancouver Island shore and began a steady crossover to the entrance of Blackney Pass. The sun was now lower in the sky as the orcas negotiated their way back into Blackney Pass. Their exit was similar to their afternoon entrance but the parade had reversed itself with A60 and the A25s now the following and last individuals through. Some of the whales seemed excited (breaching and porpoising), as they headed out. By 9:50pm, the residents had cleared our view and we began tracking their further efforts acoustically. The Flower Island camera briefly showed them quickly moving through Blackfish Sound. Their calls and echo location were audible till 10:05pm. By this time we no longer could hear the dolphins who had accompanied the orcas throughout the day. The rest of the night was uneventful except a few sounds from a humpback maneuvering around in Johnstone Strait. Speaking of humpbacks, as the orcas were passing through in the late evening a humpback grabbed our attention by repeatedly breaching on the far side from us. It was quite the show! Other humpbacks had also filed out the Strait and into Blackney Pass at the same time as the orcas so the scene was pretty busy which included the Sea Lions back on their rocks after being disturbed earlier by a group of kayakers who unwisely chose to go too close to their rocks - the only negative in what was a busy and eventful day.  OrcaLab 04 Jul 2021 08:43:21 PDT

No calls but orcas nearby https://explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base OL crew 03 Jul 2021 21:22:51 PDT Superb sounds!! Whales rubbing, lovely lovely sounds!!!!! OrcaLab 03 Jul 2021 20:12:22 PDT Please note: In our summary for July 2 there was a typo, the following should read - "There were three other orcas further back whom we later identified as the A75s (Cedar's) family (of the A54s). " OrcaLab 03 Jul 2021 07:25:59 PDT

No calls but orcas nearby July 2 2021 Orcas: A50s, A54s, A23s, A25s Humpbacks: Argonaut, Potamus, Ripple (& new calf), Stitch Our anticipation is over, the waiting is done: The Northern Residents have arrived! We are thrilled to share our exciting day with you and to announce that the season has well and truly begun. The morning brought excitement of the humpback kind, as Jackie Hildering confirmed that lab assistant Kamilla had documented Ripple with a new calf. We have seen Ripple consistently over the last few years and we are so happy to see her back here with a fourth calf. Then, after lunch, we received one of the most exciting reports of the year to date: A group of 10 orcas - including the A25s - rubbing at Bere Point at 12:18pm and heading east! The change in atmosphere at the lab was instant and electric. We loaded up our new Flower Island camera which can see all the way into Blackfish Sound and along the shore of Malcolm Island, and turned our hydrophone up high. It was a fairly agonising wait, as every wave caused by the northwesterly wind sent a momentary ‘orca?!’ chill down the spine. Finally, at 2:39pm, we heard our first A5 calls in Blackfish Sound and there was an audible ‘woohoo’ as Quin celebrated the first melodies of the season. At 3:20pm, A1 calls joined the mix and the unmistakable ‘N47’ of the A50s/A54s brought smiles all round. The first fin in Blackney Pass at 3:57pm was a welcome sight: A60’s (Fife’s) dorsal cutting through waves mid-pass, bucking the ebb tide opposing his stride. A few minutes later, we spotted several more fins in the chop, who we later learned were A54 (Minstrel), A106 (Nowell) and A118 of the A54s - thank you Jared Towers. Just as they cleared our view into Johnstone Strait, more orcas appeared from the north at 4:20pm, and this time they were close. More warm smiles ensued as the square-topped A61(Surge) lopped into view, accompanied by A85 (Cordero) and baby Twilight, A121. They followed the earlier group, accompanied by the A86s (Cutter’s - also of the A54s), into the Strait at 4:33pm, and we began to hear their mixed A1/A5 calls on both our Kaizumi and Cracroft Point hydrophones. We tracked their movements east as they foraged, and hoped that they would head to the rubbing beaches. Their determined pace suggested that they might. We weren’t expecting any further groups as these orcas matched all reports for the day, but at 4:52pm we saw more fins in Blackney Pass, also heading south! They were spread out in the pass, and we had a sneaking suspicion that they must include the A50s. One by one, we saw sprouter A84 (Kloaitis), A50 (Clio) with her baby (A123) and A99 (Alder), and finally A72 (Bend) and A108 (Jamieson) escorting the parade from the rear. There were three other orcas further back whom we later identified as the A75’s (Cutter’s) family (of the A54s). That gives a full house for all four matrilines with everyone accounted for! As we had hoped, all groups made a bee-line for the rubbing beaches! By 5:56pm the first fins were on Strider Rubbing Beach camera, and they began to rub shortly after. We heard the A54s and saw the tall dorsal of A60 (A23s). They did only a few passes at this beach, before hopping east to Main Rubbing Beach and rubbing briefly there. They then continued eastward. The A25s came next at 6:25pm, all three of them, and also did a brief rub at Strider, then Main, then headed east. One whale from the first group had hung back and was still rubbing, it looked like A54 herself. We captured our first underwater footage from our new Strider Underwater Camera - another exciting event to add to the day! The A50s (and possibly A75s) arrived last at 6:35pm, true to their order from earlier in the day. They stayed much longer at Strider than the previous groups, and at 6:46pm their heightened, excited N47s signified the arrival of A72 and A108 to the beach - the “latecomers” today it would seem. By 7.18pm their rub had ended after a brief visit to Main beach, before they too headed east. We lost all calls for a couple of hours and wondered how long and how far they would travel east, but at 8:48pm we picked up A5 calls once again in Johnstone Strait, shortly followed by A1 calls at 9:04pm. We are currently trying to locate the westing whales on our remote cameras before the light fails. After that, our underwater ears will continue to piece together the picture through the night, as they have done for the last five decades.  OrcaLab 02 Jul 2021 21:59:05 PDT Distant calls audible. We have our first calls of the season! A5s and A1s. Listen live with us: cod.orca-live.net/orcalab/orcalab_comment/ OrcaLab 02 Jul 2021 14:55:49 PDT No orcas present. Summary 1 July Orcas: K12s, K13s, K14s Humpbacks: Argonaut, Stitch, Ripple, Neptune (?) And so begins the summer season, in similar fashion to last year with some 'surprise' residents! On 29 June, we received a report that a group of Southern Residents were off Adam River around 2pm - further east in Johnstone Strait than we can see or hear. This report came as quite the surprise as nobody had seen them enter Johnstone Strait. There are many pairs of eyes on the water right now as we anticipate the first Northern Residents, so we wonder if they took a more northerly route (the "back route") which is sometimes favoured by the A42s. Today, we received a further report from Jared Towers that the K12s, K13s and K14s were seen in Rosario this morning, which would line up nicely with them being the same group as on the 29th. Around the same time on the 29th, J pod were confirmed off the west coast of Vancouver Island near Tofino. That's a lot of the Southern Residents accounted for, but still no news of the Northern Residents! While we wait with ears and eyes open, we are busying ourselves with the system installations and humpback identifications. New lab assistant Kamilla has been hard at work out on the deck each day, and today has identified at least 5 different humpbacks right outside the lab. Our rubbing beach cameras are installed, along with a new surface camera at Flower Island which extends our "eyes" further into Blackfish Sound. We cannot wait to see those first black fins on the horizon! OrcaLab 02 Jul 2021 09:17:17 PDT

Yesterday, A wonderful moment at Orcalab when Ramon and Kamilla saw their first ever Orcas! The Bigg's orcas were first reported by Larry Roy passing the Sophia Islands, they then turned into Blackney Pass and travelled north fairly close to Hanson Island. Thanks Jared for identifying the T030Bs, T117B and T172. Earlier the T123s passed Alert Bay at 11:30am. Jared has appropriately dubbed the near continuous stream of Bigg's orcas at this time of year, "the Salish Exodus" Great to be witness to this event once again. OrcaLab 21 Jun 2021 07:34:47 PDT

No calls but orcas nearby We have had a report that Orca's are heading into Blackney Pass from the Johnstone Strait. We are waiting ready with our cameras, Watch live at Explore: https://www.explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Megan  07 Jun 2021 11:13:46 PDT

No calls but orcas nearby We have the T018's and T019B heading south in Blackney Pass. Watch live on Explore.org https://www.explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Megan  05 Jun 2021 17:11:27 PDT

A short while ago, we had some humpback calls on Main Rubbing Beach. We briefly spotted him on Main Rubbing Beach camera heading east. Tune in here: https://www.explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Gloria 30 May 2021 17:48:08 PDT

Group of Pacific white Sided Dolphins here in Blackney pass, Watch live and scroll back on Explore.org to watch. https://www.explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Gloria  29 May 2021 10:15:15 PDT

Superb sounds!! We have some beautiful Bigg's calls right now. So wonderful to hear them!  Janie, Megan and Rich! 23 May 2021 09:18:28 PDT

This afternoon around 14:20 Megan spotted a large male orca fin heading north from the guest house. Janie and Megan promptly headed to the lab, started a recording and began to take photos. Megan quickly recognized one of the large males as T019B. The group of four were traveling fast to the north. No calls were made and at 14:41 they cleared into to Blackfish sound. We continued a recording but no calls were made. We later reviewed the images and identified all four members of the group, T018, T019, T019B and T019C.  Megan and Janie 13 May 2021 21:32:51 PDT

This beautiful early May morning started with the most calming of pink sunrises surrounded by a menagerie of bird life including a favorite of Megan’s, the Pacific Loons. Quin and the rest of the crew set off early to the rubbing beaches to redeploy one of our hydrophones. The reasons for this necessary redeployment was it itself an amazing story. First deployed successfully last year the hydrophone became the victim of very voracious urchins who took an unfortunate liking to the cable crippling the hydrophone. The effort today was a great success, a few hours later, back at the lab, we tuned in and could hear a fine sounding signal coming from Strider. Another step closer to summer! As they began to head back to the lab around 13:30 Quin spotted orca blows heading west at the Sophia Islands. We alerted Jared Towers, started a recording and Megan began to search on the Cracroft Point camera. A short while later around 14:00 whilst searching Johnstone Strait with the remote camera,, Megan spotted a large male dorsal fin out of the corner of her eye at Gabe’s rock, heading north in Blackney Pass. ORCA! This was the first sighting for Megan since she returned back to Hanson for the summer. There were no calls but the four whales, consisting of 1 male, 1 juvenile and two smaller fins began to circle around “2nd Bay” back and forth for a long while. They were far over towards the other side of the pass so photo IDing the whales was proving tricky. Quin arrived back at the lab with the rest of the crew and began to sift through the catalog to look for potential matches. The orcas slowly made their way north through Blackney Pass, the juvenile ahead slightly from the rest of the group. They all cleared into Blackfish sound around 14:48 and we kept a recording going, waiting patiently for some calls. Sadly, we didn't hear anything on our Flower Island hydrophone but Lisa at Double Bay was out in her kayak and spotted them and reported they headed towards Donegal Head where they turned west and continued along Malcolm Island towards Stubbs Island around 15:45. New Captain Valarie from Prince of Whales later reported identifying the whales as the T055’s. A great effort from all concerned.  Orcalab  04 May 2021 20:22:26 PDT We have a group of Bigg's orca heading north in Blackney Pass. Watch live on EXPLORE. https://www.explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-base Megan Janie and Hayley  04 May 2021 14:15:50 PDT