Wednesday, August 16, 2023




August 16 2023 NR: A23s, A42s (Georgia Strait) Around midnight a humpback made its presence known as it moved around noisily. The movements were not accompanied by any vocalisations at that time. Later, in the early hours Naiomi became aware of some more expressive but very sporadic humpback vocal activity, enough so to help keep her awake through her night shift. Morning came and went without any word or indication about the whereabouts of the A23s who, judging from their last calls, had disappeared east just as they had the previous evening. But unlike the day before it would be a long time before they reappeared. Around 1pm the A42s were reported off Francisco Point on the south end of Quadra Island in Georgia Strait. Just before 2pm we heard distant calls east of the Ecological Reserve. The calls remained distant and after several attempts we were not able to locate the A23s visually. We did figure out that most likely, because of the interplay of the different hydrophones involved in detecting the calls that the group were possibly mid strait and till well east of Boat Bay. This turned out to be accurate. By 3pm, they were still east of the Reserve. An hour later the Cliff Research site watched as they passed Swaine Point on the Cracroft Island side headed west. Fife was travelling again separately and was seen closer to the Vancouver Island side near Robson Bight. He would later shift to mid strait as he continued west. The rest of the group was quite spread out mid strait and possibly crossing over to the Bight as well. By 6pm , the A23s were all mid strait and headed towards Cracroft Point with A60 in the lead. For a while he looked as if he was going to continue west into the afternoon glare. Half an hour later he began to angle towards the entrance of Blackney Pass. The rest were behind him and began to cross over to about 600 meters off the ÒCPÓ platform by 6:45pm. They continued in a westerly direction for the next five minutes. Just before 7pm they finally committed to coming into Blackney Pass off Little Hanson and into our view at 7:04pm. They travelled mid channel favouring the far side as they headed north along Parson Island. They were travelling more or less together but gradually spread out into three groupings accompanied by a few dolphins. Unfortunately, although they had a day with very few boats around them, a sailboat in Blackney motored along with them matching their speed with its own. They were opposite the Lab by 7:15pm and then cleared our view by 7:30pm as they headed into Blackfish Sound. They both echolocated and called while foraging in Blackfish Sound until 8:10pm. Even though they then went quiet we were still able to see them on the Flower Island remote camera. We noted the sailboat was still with them. By 9pm we lost them on the camera but Alex was able to tell us that they were about ¼ the way across the top end of Blackfish Sound, in the rip, when they turned back towards Hanson Island. A few distant calls were followed by clear and louder calls at 9:20pm. This coincided with some rather exciting bubble net feeding close to Flower Island which was captured by the remote camera. A little seal on the rocks below the camera sat as a witness to all this activity just as we were doing in the Lab! The A23s continued to call in Blackfish Sound off and on until around 10:24pm and ceased entirely by 10:30pm. Between orcas and humpback observations it was a busy day for the Lab. In the morning, Joel, Rob, JŽrŽmie and Serah set off in the Sonic to visit all the remote sites. The weather was quite cooperative for a change. At each site they has specific tasks and took good measure of work needed in the future. We had been stymied by the weather and could not complete the dives we had hope to do on the 14th and 15th so this was a very positive alternative plan. When the crew returned Joel deployed the underwater drone and had a good look at the condition of the main mooring. The conclusion was that the mooring needs some attention - good to know going into the latter part of the year. 
OrcaLab
17 Aug 2023 08:14:41 PDT
Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, August 15, 2023



August 15 2023 NR: A23, A42s (Georgia Strait) Somehow, the A23s returned to Johnstone Strait during the night and travelled east towards the Ecological Reserve. At 1:20am they were at Strider Rubbing beach in the Robson Bight (Michael Bigg) Ecological Reserve and began a brief rub. The mystery as to what they might do next was solved when echolocation and a few calls were heard further east off Main Rubbing beach letting us know that the A23s had kept going east. They were out of range of the hydrophones after 3am. The rest of the night was uneventful. The morning was very pleasant. The high winds of the previous evening had subsided and the fog which eventually descended was not very thick. The morning was made better with a report from Sea Wolf that there were orcas (the A23s) travelling west from Naka Creek. So we waited with the Strider remote camera trained to the east. Along came the A23s close to the Vancouver Island shore at 9:15am. They did not stop for a rub however and were spread out enough that there were calls detected from the more easterly rubbing beach hydrophone at 9:30am. By 10am they were all on their way towards Robson Bight. They made an exit out of the Reserve just before 11am. They stayed on the Vancouver Island side and eventually we could see them as they approached Izumi Rock around 11:15am west of the Bight. A60 had a porpoise companion for part of his journey while the others travelling together splashed, tail lobbed, breached and pec slapped their own way west. Although there were no calls, the A23s made quite a lot of echolocation clicks as they gradually moved away from the shorel. By the time they reached the Kaikash area they were well offshore and angling towards Cracroft Point. Once closer to the Cracroft Island side they stalled and contented themselves with moving back and forth, east and west. A60 independently found his way to the rip west of Cracroft Point. By this time they had attracted a lot of boats, whale watchers and casual recreational boats alike. The A23s continued regardless, even spyhopping and breaching occasionally. The afternoon wore on and finally the A23s regrouped and began to angle towards the entrance of Blackney Pass by 4:20pm. This was ahead of slack tide and the current was not set to change until 5:37pm. The push into Blackney progressed well and by 4:44pm they were well into the Pass and travelling together mid channel opposite Parson Island. By 5pm they were opposite White Beach Pass and looking as if they would easily carry forward as they passed a couple of humpbacks as they went. About six minutes later, when just about to West Pass, they inexplicably turned and took the remaining flood tide back to the entrance of Blackney Pass. They cleared our view by 5:30pm, then traversed the last leg of the Pass and reentered Johnstone Strait by 5:51pm, just after the tide had turned. From then on they worked against the current and proceeded eastward past Cracroft Point. From 6:10pm onward they began to angle slowly towards Vancouver Island. They were opposite the Sophia Islands, resting into the opposing current, just before 7pm. They made no calls until 9:02pm when they reached Strider and went for a ten minute rub. Just as they had at 1:20am they continued east. Calls were heard on the Main beach hydrophone until 9:25pm. They werenÕt alone. Dolphins, also on the Main beach system, chimed in at 9:30pm. So just like yesterday the Òlast wordÓ went to the dolphins. 
OrcaLab
16 Aug 2023 07:35:40 PDT
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, August 14, 2023




August 14 2023 NR: A23s, A42s (presumed Georgia Strait) BiggÕs: T060s Humpbacks: Meniscus, Guardian and baby, Ridge, Inukshuk Finally! In the early hours (3:30am) Carla started a recording after hearing clear but distant Northern Resident calls. Before she could text everyone Claire was already awakened by the calls and was on her way to the Lab and then to the main house to make sure the news that there were A5 calls in Blackfish Sound had registered. Helena was soon on her way to the Lab where she found just about everyone gathered, already listening on earphones or the speakers while their excitement shook off any residual sleepiness. This was the real deal! We listened intently trying to sort out if this was the A42s coming back and headed west with the ebbing tide or newly arriving A23s. Most of the calls remained rather distant in the first instance but faint echo location seemed to suggest the orcas were not going away. At 4:19am the calls even became louder. We imagined the whales shifting about and adjusting to the current which was not going to change until quite a bit later that morning. For almost an hour the echo location continued and during the next half hour (after 5am) distant calls interspersed the continuing echo location. Just to make things even more interesting, at 5:33am, a humpback in Blackfish Sound produced some pretty impressive sounds during a bubblenet effort. Afterwards, the orcas ceased calling until 6:03am when it became evident acoustically that they had slipped into Blackney Pass. Blows were heard through the morning fog closer to the far shore. Moments later the orcas retreated when close calls and echolocation at 6:36am told us they were regrouping in Blackfish Sound. The calls then faded. Almost an uneventful hour passed. Suddenly at 7:26am a humpback in Blackfish Sound called out in a short burst.The A23s showed up in Blackney Pass headed south 28 minutes later. They came in on the Hanson Island side altogether, A60 leading the group. Day had broken and the fog had mostly lifted by now so we could follow the small group as they made their way through the Pass - still going against the current. At 8:09am they disappeared from our view. We then patiently waited for them to traverse the entrance to Blackney Pass. Megan and Rob at the Cracroft Point camp spotted them first at 8:24am as they emerged. As they moved further toward Johnstone Strait they Òopened upÓ with a beautiful set of calls announcing their arrival. Serah, handling the remote camera, soon found them and trained the camera on their progress eastward past ÒCPÓ. Meanwhile, we had regrouped inside the Lab to collectively take a breather, look at the pictures, excitedly discuss what had just occurred and watch the A23s on the monitor.Then suddenly, Janie who was facing the window saw more orcas outside passing close to the Lab. We quickly shifted focus back outside. Fully in Òresident modeÓ it took a short while for us to realize that we were looking at BiggÕs orcas instead, specifically, the T060s. Whew! What a morning. As the BiggÕs orcas made their way along the same path that the Residents had taken, the A23s continued to call beautifully. They were now moving east further away from ÒCPÓ into the fog. Fife (A60) lingered a while longer just on the edge of the fog line. By now the BiggÕs orcas had also reached Johnstone Strait but chose to head west. The A23s shifted closer to Vancouver Island. At 9:14am we heard one ever so brief rub and caught a glimpse of a young whale near the shore. Afterwards we lost track of the A23s but noted the reports on the progress of the T060s. At 9:15am they passed Big Bay on Hanson Island and reached the western end of the island about a half hour later. Just before Noon they had moved north into Weynton Pass. They would later curl around Hanson Island and be spotted off Double Bay by 6:20pm. The Resident A23s likewise struck a westerly direction after that brief rub on Vancouver Island. By 11:14am they were off Blinkhorn Peninsula and from there headed towards Telegraph Cove which they passed at 12:18pm. They turned soon after and at 1:29pm they were just east of Telegraph Cove off the Bausa Islets and by 2:03pm once again off Blinkhorn Peninsula. They continued their easterly trek silently. At 2:29pm they were off Kaikash Creek opposite ÒCPÓ. The remote camera followed their progress as they approached the boundary of the Robson Bight (Michael Bigg) Ecological Reserve followed by a number of boats. By 3:30pm they were near the western headland of Robson Bight. They entered the Bight and passed the Tsitika River estuary at 4:18pm, still eastbound. We waited for them to appear on the Strider Rubbing Beach camera but rubs were not really the order of the day and apparently they turned west off the eastern headland of the Bight at around 5pm. A few sporadic faint calls suggested that they were still on their way west at 5:30pm but nothing was very definite until hours later when they turned up in Blackney Pass once again at 9:03pm. They were silent but comfortably travelling with the ebbing current and the very exercised waves whipped up by the strong northwest winds. More or less travelling close together they left our view and entered Blackfish Sound some 19 hours since this day had begun with those first calls. The fading light worked against our efforts to follow them through Blackfish Sound. A humpback breaching in Blackney brought our attention closer to home. A few echolocation clicks and some quiet calls assured us that the A23s were still in Blackfish as night fell. A lovely postscript to the day came when some very rowdy Pacific White-sided dolphins were heard in Blackney Pass not long after the orca activity had ended for the moment. Earlier, JŽrŽmie had braved the freshening afternoon winds to fetch long time volunteer Momoko Kobayashi (so good to have her back!) from Alert Bay and retrieve Rob from Cracroft Point. Only at ÒCPÓ for a day Rob had the good fortune to see the A23s, catch a glimpse of the BiggÕs orcas and watch several humpbacks (Meniscus, Guardian and baby, Ridge plus others) working the nearby currents. We had hoped to do quite a bit of work on the remote sites throughout the afternoon but the dire weather forecast and the reality of the increasing winds forced us to cancel. Technician Joel was content to work on the Lab systems in the meantime. But given the lovely events of the day no one was complaining and very happy remembering the sights and sounds of this wonderful day as they turned towards beds or the Lab to continue monitoring whatever else the night might reveal. 
OrcaLab
15 Aug 2023 07:58:32 PDT
Posted by at No comments:

Friday, August 11, 2023



Aug 1 -11 2023 BiggÕs orcas: T060s, T002Cs, T036As and T075Bs Northern Residents (at distance): A42s, D17s Pacific White-sided dolphins DallÕs Porpoise Minke Whale We are now well into August and the Northern Residents are still far away from the Blackfish Sound/Johnstone Strait area and we are perplexed to say the least. We have no answers and we feel as befuddled as some of these foggy summer days. We wonder at the patience of our volunteers who have come from far away on the promise of an amazing summer learning about, seeing first hand and listening to the Northern Resident families. They have been a wonderful group, keeping their spirits high, lending their energy to the various tasks at hand, being diligent about understanding our systems, keeping good humor and supporting each other. We lend them our memories and stories of how it used to be but, in the absence of the orcas, they have embraced the stories that the ocean, the sky and the forest reveal to them each day. Likewise recently, two young boys came all the way from Japan. One was the grandson of an old friend, the other was his best friend. Within minutes of arriving they were off the boat and inspecting the beach, watching the ocean, delighted by everything. All this in the absence of resident orcas! For the record here are a few events which have occurred since the beginning of August: In the early hours of August 1 a humpback tried out a few vocals in Blackfish Sound. We decided since it was August to implement night shifts into the routines, just in case. Possibly we would not have recorded these sounds otherwise as they did not last very long. Later that same day the T060s showed up in the channels near Farewell Harbour and Village Island. The next morning, once again we heard a humpback, this time in Johnstone Strait and later in the day we were excited by a Naiad Explorer report when they thought they heard A clan calls off Malcolm Point. We later learned that Jared Towers found the D17s (A clan) further west that same afternoon. On August 3rd around 5:30am a humpback began to bubble net feed while near the eastern end of the Ecological Reserve. The distinctive moans followed by the sound of bubbles breaking the surface clued us into what was happening. This year bubble net feeding has been on the rise. The 3rd was a pretty busy day! BiggÕs orcas, the T002Cs, T036As and T075Bs turned up around noon heading west along the Vancouver Island shore. They moved over towards Cracroft Point and continued west followed by a large number of boats. The day before the T036As, T037s, T034s and T0002Cs had been seen heading north from Campbell River. This day also brought news of the A42s heading southeast in Calm Channel. In the early hours of August 4th a humpback was heard briefly and later that morning the humpbacks became quite active with lots of pec slapping and breaching at various times throughout the day. The humpback ÒRidgeÓ highlighted the day off Cracroft Point at 5pm by feeding intensely on a bait ball. For those who stayed up, northern lights lit up the clear sky in an energetic display from 11pm on. A group of BiggÕs orcas was sighted in Blackfish Sound on August 5. These whales did not enter Blackney Pass so we never saw who they were and we heard no backup reports. The A42s were seen, still in Georgia Strait, near Marina Island. A Minke Whale showed up in Blackney Pass on August 8th at 4:11pm. There are not a lot of Minke Whales who inhabit this area and they only infrequently turn up in Blackney so this was a good sighting. They are also not easy to observe as they can have long dives between surfacings. We skip to the evening of August 8th for the next update on the A42s who were seen once again in Calm Channel. At 8am on August 9th BiggÕs orcas were reported easting off Tribune Point by Farewell Harbour Lodge. After time passed these orcas eventually came through Baronet Pass (seen briefly by the Lab) and on to Cracroft Point where Megan is stationed. She identified the T019s as they passed close to the platform as they headed east just before 3pm. The morning of August 10th was foggy but Orca Camp, located just east of the Reserve, reported that they heard blows not far off shore. Nothing further came of this report. On the 11th there were a few humpback sounds in Blackfish Sound in the early hours. Porpoise and dolphin activity drew our attention later in the day. The dolphins came quite close just after 4pm and disappeared around Burnt Point soon after. Pretty soon our returning assistants, Claire and JŽrŽmie, will be leaving us. They came early in June planning on staying just one month and now it is almost mid August. It is impossible to summarize all the help they have given. We just know we are so grateful to them for coming back, so graciously helping out and for being the lovely, lovely people they are. We wish them safe travels and look forward to their return next year. 
OrcaLab
11 Aug 2023 22:17:32 PDT
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)