Monday, September 04, 2023




September 4th 2023 Northern Residents: A54s, A23s, A25s, I04s No humpbacks! 100+ Pacific White-Sided Dolphins Another day come and gone, another set of orca mysteries to solve! The whales - at least from our perspective - have kept us on our toes as they travelled back and forth and intermingled as they went. With no further clues of the I16s today, we still surmise that it was they who travelled north past the lab in the dark yesterday evening, and out to Queen Charlotte Strait. The others - A54s, A23s, A25s and I04s - all remained east for the majority of the night. The ÒAÓ groups seemed to travel furthest and dip out of our range, while the I04s lingered and were still audible around the eastern beaches at 2:45am. By 4:40am, the I04s had decided to move to the west, as we began hearing them faintly on our Cracroft Point and Kaizumi Beach hydrophones. Their westerly decision did not stick for long, as they swept back on the flooding current to Strider Beach for one, solitary rub at 6:45am, before turning again to the west. They reached Kaizumi by 8:25am and continued on their way. Why the back-and-forth? Waiting for others, perhaps. In the meantime, the A23s had also come back from the east, audible around Kaizumi beach at 8:49am. The A54s were the last to reappear, reaching our Main Beach area at 9:15am, and continuing west. It was time for the A23s to be Ônon-committalÕ to a particular direction, as from 10am to 12pm they switched from east to west, back to east - pacing the boundary of the Ecological Reserve. This was the last we would see of them, and their puzzle piece was not fitted until the evening when we received a report that they were seen down in Nodales Channel at 5:24pm. We believe they took the Ôback routeÕ behind East & West Thurlow Islands. Quite an impressive journey for just a few hours work; the Blue Moon tides have brought speedy passages to these whales! Back to Johnstone Strait, and the westbound A54s crossed from the Bight to the Cracroft shore around 12:30pm. They headed straight to Cracroft Point and made no delay on their way to Blackney Pass. We could see them from our deck at 1:21pm and began hearing them shortly after, around the same time that a large, chatty group of Pacific White-Sided Dolphins headed north and into Blackfish Sound. The A54s travelled fairly quickly, with a few breaches for good measure. As a family of 11 now, it was wonderful to see their many fins pass by. They were all clear from our view by 2pm, and headed towards Weynton Pass. At 1:49pm, we received a report of some A25s heading west along the Vancouver Island shore around Kaikash Creek. An hour later, A61 (A25s) would pass Cracroft Point, also westing. It is not unusual for this trio to be quite spatially separated. They did not come into Blackney, instead following the I04s who had also headed west and were now foraging around Weynton Island. By 5:10pm, the A54s, I04s and A25s had rejoined and were all spread around Telegraph Cove. They all rode the evening ebb ÒupÓ Weynton Passage, grazing the range of our hydrophone in Blackfish Sound at 7:40pm. They travelled north towards Bold Head (Swanson Island) and beyond. As the light faded, we caught a glimpse of two tight-knit groups of orcas, suggesting the family groups were interspersed. We were able to ID A61 (Surge) from his distinctive flat-top dorsal fin, and track the groups out of view into Queen Charlotte Strait. On land, it was a day of arrivals. Suzie came back for another brief stint (night shift for the next few days!) along with Gloria Pancrazi, who first came to us as one of our very few 2020 volunteers. We also welcomed Alexandra Morton back to Hanson, who will be staying with us for a few days. She brought enough home-grown squash to feed us all for weeks! It is an honour and a pleasure to spend time with her here, surrounded by the songs of the orcas that have brought us all together. As the final touches were being made to HelenaÕs potato gratin & trimmings, a huge group of Pacific White-Sided dolphins stole our attention right in front of the lab at 7:40pm. There were easily 100 individuals, along with a couple of sea lions, chasing schooling fish northward into the Sound. As the night closes in, our ears are peeled to the east for the A23s and to the west for the other groups, who may just return with others in tow. 
OrcaLab
05 Sep 2023 08:47:40 PDT
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September 3 2023 Northern Residents: A54s, A23s, A25s, I04s and I16s (seen in Queen Charlotte Strait and possibly heard) Humpback Whales: Argonaut Pacific White-sided dolphins At 1:30am the A54s were vocal on the Flower Island hydrophone until 2:50am. There was a pause in calls, then at 3:25am both A54s and I15s became very excited with a burst of calls from both families, perhaps they had just joined up again with the A23s. It was soon after that blows were heard from the deck of the lab at 4:00am. The groups, the A23s, A54s, A25s and at least the I04s, were travelling towards the entrance of Blackney Pass and cleared into the Strait by 4:15am. In the Strait at 5:09am A5 calls were heard with the A54s and I15s distantly on Kaziumi hydrophone, indicating that they were crossing the Strait over the Vancouver Island side. By 5:20am they had gone silent. It was not until 6:00am that very close A5 calls were heard on the Strider hydrophone in the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve. At 6:22am the rubs began as the sun was rising to the east. The first rub was very short, they were quite vocal, lots of N3 type calls that are common within the A Clan community. The next rub was at 6:40am, 2 females and a young juvenile, was also a quick rub after which they travelled east. Further east of Strider there was a lot of the echolocation on the adjacent Main rubbing beach. At 6:50am there was a burst of energetic I15 type calls and one minute later one male and 3 females began to rub on Strider. Through the various calls, A5s were also detected close on Strider and the male was identified as A61. Soon a group of Pacific White-sided dolphins arrived on the beach, travelling very close to the orca, who had stopped rubbing at 7:00am and now were at first travelling east then back west soon after. However, there was still lots of echolocation heard to the east on Main rubbing beach hydrophone. At 7:03am another rub began on Strider. This time the orcas were surrounded by a large group of Pacific White-sided dolphins. Once again there were lots of N3 calls. The group then left the beach and travelled west at 7:07am. At 7:15am yet another rub began on Strider with an accompanied A61 again. There were many A5 and I15 types of calls heard on Strider, but only A5 calls on Main. At 7:48am the 3 females left the beach, but the male, A61, stayed behind and continued to rub on his own. He was soon joined by a group of at least 10 White-sided dolphins. In a strategy employed by others, Surge (A61) circled offshore of the beach and moved as if going towards the west. The dolphins followed. He took a deep dive, circled back without the dolphins and had another long rub. The dolphins came back so he repeated his ruse three times before finally truly leaving the beach and travelling west at 7:55am. The western movement of the orcas was captured just after 8am when very distant ÒAÓ calls were heard on the Kaizumi hydrophone These calls were followed by some from the I15s at 8:22am. Further testament to their progress, faint A5 and A1 calls were next heard on the Cracroft Point hydrophone. At 9:08am, Megan at the Cracroft Outcamp (ÒCPÓ) reported the A23s passing the entrance of Blackney Pass, 400 metres offshore. The first assumption was they would travel west in Johnstone Strait but at 9:45am, the I4s and the A54s were sighted in Blackney Pass travelling to the north very fast. The A25s followed and they all cleared to the north at 10:13am with A61 taking up the rear. The orca continued to the northwest and by 11:15am only distant calls were heard after going out of range of the remote camera. We had missed the A23s who most likely were already past when we spotted the others. Megan relayed the report that at 12:43 the A23s were 3.5 miles east of Lizard Point and at 1:00pm the Naiad reported that the 116s were westing near Lizard. Scotty reported that he had sighted the A54s with the I04s. The report of the I16s got us thinking as we had not identified this group in Johnstone Strait during the morning. Had they gone out with the A23s ahead of the others? Or had they just turned up in Queen Charlotte Strait? Possible. The A23s were seen easting off Donegal Head at 3pm. At 3:30pm a few A5 calls were heard on the Flower Island hydrophone, then a long pause in calls. Then at 4:40pm the A23s, A54s, A25s and the I04s travelled very fast in a tight group past the Lab towards the entrance of Blackney Pass into Johnstone Strait. They cleared the view of the Lab by 4:50pm. Distinctive A5 and I15 type calls were heard as they entered the Strait and by 5:10pm they were travelling in the Strait towards the Vancouver Island shore. They were quite vocal with lots of echolocation. By 5:26pm the A23s were rubbing on Kaizumi beach. The rub lasted for just for a few minutes, then they all travelled east. At 6:46pm, distant calls were detected on Strider and by 7:04pm, almost 12 hours later from their morning rub, they were back at the beaches for another session. At 7:11pm the A23s were identified on the Strider beach rubbing and we heard I15 calls at this time as well. There were lots of excited close calls. At 7:17pm this rub ended and they travelled further east to the Main rubbing beach. This A23 rub started at Main at 7:20pm and ended at 7:24pm. At 7:22pm Megan reported orcas between Cracroft Point and Little Kaikash mid strait headed east. Was it possible that this was perhaps the I16s and that they had headed into the Strait via Weynton Passage? As the I15 and A5 calls on Main beach continued to fade by 7:40pm by 8:50pm, I15 calls were detected on Kaizumi hydrophone. Were these the eastbound group that Megan saw at 7:22pm? It seemed as if we were dealing with two possible separate I15 matrilines. By 9pm, calls were back on the Cracroft Point system. We were keeping options open. At 9:20pm, both I15 calls and echolocation were heard on the Parson Island hydrophone as whales entered Blackney Pass. They travelled north. Calls continued on Local Center and then echoed to Flower. At 9:40pm this I15 group cleared north followed by close calls and echolocation on Flower. At 10:36pm A5 calls were still heard on the Strider hydrophone, and at 10:55 another rub started, by either the A23s or A25s. This rub ended at 11:00pm, and there was the chatter of dolphins close by on Strider. They travelled east and by 11:10pm there were both A5 and A54 calls on the Main hydrophone, with faint dolphin calls. By midnight the calls were fading but audible still on Strider and Main. 
OrcaLab
04 Sep 2023 15:36:22 PDT
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Sunday, September 03, 2023




September 2 2023 Northern Residents: A54s,A23s, A25s, I04s, I16s BiggÕs orcas: T055s Pacific White-sided dolphins Before beginning this summary there needs to be a bit of backtracking about the movement of the various I15 groups. The I15 matriline was divided into four matrilines, the I04s, I16s, I27s and the I65s,after the death of I15. They maintain the same shared calls. These matrilines came to be viewed as independent of each other while travelling in varying combinations. The I16s, for example, came in earlier and travelled with the A23s for a good length of time. They departed with the A23s, then the other three matrilines came in later together with the I31s with whom they also left early on August 31. In hindsight yesterdayÕs early morning I15 calls might have been returning I16s with at least the I04s. Today there was no mention of the I27s and the I65s. Oversight? Possibly, there were a lot of whales and a lot of movement. Starting at midnight the A54s, the A23s and the A25s headed into Johnstone Strait after being met by their I15 (I16) companions in Blackfish Sound. These I15s had especially gone through Blackney Pass into Blackfish Sound for the meeting. All together the groups filed into the Strait and went east. Over the next almost three hours they made progress towards the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve, finally touching down at Strider beach for a rub at 2:43pm. This five minute rub, that involved some of the I15s and the A54s, was a good deal shorter than the rubs the A54s indulged in last year when they would stay for nearly three hour sessions. On this occasion they finished quickly and skipped along to the adjacent Main beach where they rubbed for three minutes before continuing on to the east. Distant calls then endured for several hours until a break ensued just before 6am. The whales had not really gone far and by 7:47am were vocal again and in better range of the Reserve hydrophones. They were on their way back. The I15 calls were the most distinctive. The whales were spread out with some foraging. Visual reports surfaced. At 9am the Achiever was reported stationary off Robson Bight with at least three orcas surrounding them. Earlier a male orca and two others had been seen crossing to the Cracroft Island shore. Perhaps after finding a bite to eat and tired from their long journey into the area (a lot of it against the current) some whales took a long needed rest in Robson Bight around 10:30am. At this time other whales, perhaps the A23s, were seen as far east as Naka Creek. By 11:13am whales were spotted off the Cracroft Island side of the Strait. Scotty now mentioned the I04s and the A54s resting together off Boat Bay. Finally the now identified I16s who had been resting near the estuary of the Tsitika River in Robson Bight for most of the morning began to exit to the west. Half an hour later these same whales were as far west as Kaikash beach. Although the general direction was to the west, whales had woken up enough to forage along the way. At some point the I16s crossed over to the Cracroft side and at 12:42pm they started through the entrance of Blackney Pass all together. The current, as of 12:25pm, was against them and although they made it out of MeganÕs and the remote cameraÕs view they never made it sufficiently far enough for the Lab to see them. They remained out of sight until 1:22pm. They were still fighting the current when Megan saw them again and a short while later they turned west and abandoned, for the moment, any thoughts about going through the entrance to Blackney. Meanwhile, the A54/I04 group slowly, but with some energy too, moved west. Cetus now reported that several other groups were passing by, following the A54s. The opposing current was really slowing down efforts. The I16s had not gotten very far to the west before they drifted out towards mid strait where the Kaizumi hydrophone picked up their calls. Before 2pm Megan was watching the A23s forage with the A25s further offshore. At 2pm the A54s looked great as they moved along. Juliette did a great job on the remote camera capturing the playful group. A54 and her daughter A86 both have new babies this year. Just after they passed Cracroft Point, Bigg's orcas were heard in Blackfish Sound. Amazingly they were quickly located on the remote camera. They were very distant off the top end of Blackfish Sound. They continued to call intermittently. They looked to be engaged in a hunt before continuing to cross Blackfish Sound from nearer the Hanson Island side by which time they had attracted a few boats and kayakers. By 2:11pm a group of BiggÕs orcas was reported coming out of West Pass and heading west along Swanson Island . Not sure if these were the same or different from the group who had been at the western end of Blackfish Sound earlier. There were BiggÕs calls again at 2:17pm, 2:19pm, 2:22pm, and finally at 2:23pm. At 2:27 BiggÕs orcas were located mid Blackfish Sound and identified as the T055s as they moved toward Bold Head by 2:38pm. At 2:45pm there were now loud BiggÕs calls along with echolocation. Just before 2pm the BiggÕs orcas turned southeast travelling the Swanson Island shore. Eventually, the T055s were, by chance, seen on the very far side of Blackney at the northern tip of Parson Island. Their long dives and distance made it difficult to keep up with them as they travelled south toward the Bell Rocks before 4pm. These calls and reports of this activity in Blackfish somewhat of necessity divided our attention from the resident orcas who were still very active themselves as they continued to pass in front of Megans and carry on west of Cracroft Point. Megan summarised her observations at 2:06pm. She had seen the A23s first and closest with the A25s further offshore. The I16s were now west of Cracroft Point moving closer to Vancouver Island. And the A54s were now foraging off the entrance to Blackney Pass. Eat, rest, play. The most advanced group (the A54s) turned to the Hanson Island shore and started back east towards the entrance of Blackney. As the orcas were sorting themselves the scene off the entrance to Blackney Pass became crowded with jet skis, three cruise ships and other small boats. Probably, this and the presence of Resident orcas discouraged the BiggÕs orcas from venturing closer to Johnstone Strait. Just after 5pm BiggÕs were heard in Blackfish Sound once again from 5:05pm until 5:18pm and visually seen at 5:26pm when off the Òtop endÓ of Blackfish Sound, back where all the BiggÕs action had begun hours ago. By this time the Resident orcas were back in a jumble in the rip just west of Cracroft Point. It was now about an hour and half before the tide would turn in their favour. As is often the case, orcas will mount an effort to take advantage of currents shortly before the actual, in the book, slack. The advantage is that they will have the current with them during the majority of their journey. At first there was a shift towards the Hanson Island shore then a slow push towards Blackney Pass. They first came into view at 5:46pm. They had finally made it! The A54s appeared to be leading at least some of the I15s (?I4s) and lastly the A25s. They were quite spread out and moving efficiently but playfully forward. By 6:47pm all were in Blackfish Sound keeping the same energy as they moved into the late afternoon glare. However, some of the residents were missing. The A23s and the I16s were yet to be seen. At 5:30pm orcas, who had come from Beaver Cove, had been reported off of Telegraph Cove moving eastward. The A23 and the I16s then turned up mid channel in Blackney Pass at 7:20pm. They wasted no time getting to Blackfish Sound and heading into the sunset. Calls dropped off by 9pm. That was it! A complicated day much simplified. For a few hours the night was uneventful. The next day's story would begin at 1:30am. 
OrcaLab
03 Sep 2023 11:36:00 PDT
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Saturday, September 02, 2023




September 1 2023 Northern Residents: I15s,A54s, A23s, A25s [A52s, C10s Queen Charlotte Strait] Humpback Whales: Quartz, Argonaut Pacific White-sided dolphins September is here, and as the days are becoming shorter the humpback whales are becoming more vocal. There were humpback social calls and grunts from 1:30am until 3am, then at 3:22am distant I15 orca calls were heard on the Flower Island hydrophone in Blackfish Sound. By 3:48am the orca calls were closer on the Flower Island system, and the humpback calls were now on Parson Island hydrophone in Blackney Pass.. At 4am the orca calls on Flower were much closer, accompanied by Pacific White-sided dolphins. It was 4:40am when 4 to 5 orca blows were heard opposite the Lab, the I15s were travelling south towards the entrance of Blackney Pass. At 5:09 echolocation could be heard on the Kaizumi hydrophone, indicating that they had entered the Strait and had travelled towards the Vancouver Island shore, in an easterly direction. At 5:45am I15 orca calls could still be heard on the Kaizumi hydrophone, then there was a pause in all acoustic activity. This lasted until 7:20am, when rubbing was heard on in the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve on the Strider beach hydrophone , just 3 rubs, a few calls then they travelled towards Main beach. They became quite vocal at this point, when suddenly there were 2 more rubs heard on the Strider hydrophone. On the surface camera one male and one female were sighted. Just like the first group, they each had one very quick rub and headed towards the east. It was an extremely low tide, which may have been the reason behind the decision not to rub on the beach this morning, and continue east. It was extremely foggy and they had gone silent by 8:15 am. At 1:25pm there was a report from the Achiever that near Port Hardy the A25s and A54s had been sighted, as well Cetus reported 9 orca (the I15s) near Naka Creek travelling west. At 4:30pm the A54s had already gone for a Rub at Bere Point. Meanwhile at 5:00pm distant echolocation was heard on the Main beach hydrophone, soon followed by I15 calls, which continued until 6:20pm. Orcas were apparently converging slowly from both directions. The current worked in favour for the westbound I15s but not for the orcas coming from Queen Charlotte Strait. At 6:35pm Kate, from Bere Point, reported the A23s, A52s, and C10s had just passed and were heading east. Jared was off Lizard Point with the A25s. Kate was so excited about the arrival of the C10s in particular as it had been a while since their last visit. The calls of the I15s were heard again on the Main rubbing beach and one group of 5 orca were seen, with one male and and Pacific White-sided dolphins, travelling offshore towards the west. It was at 7:30pm that A1 calls were heard for the first time this year at OrcaLab! The A54s had drawn closer to Blackfish Sound. At the same time I15 calls were getting closer to the Kaizumi hydrophone in the Strait. A reunion was anticipated but how would the whales pull it off with current conditions not very favourable. Jared had soon found the A23s but not the A52s and the C10s. Amidst a beautiful sunset at 8:20pm very distant orcas were seen off the western end of Blackfish Sound on the Flower Island remote camera. Along with the gradually stronger A54 calls were A5 calls as well. Progress into Blackfish Sound was very slow. A lone humpback off in the distance as well in Blackfish Sound made a few bubble net feeding calls. Each to his own! Meanwhile, the waiting I15s were marking time by pacing mid strait east of Cracroft Point. As the A30 (the A54s) and A5 (the A23s and A25s) calls became even more frequent and lounder - it was apparent that they were determined to come east in Blackfish Sound against the current - blows from the northbound I15s were heard in front of the Lab at 9pm. The I15s, taking advantage of the still ebbing tide had decided to take the initiative. It was a very calm night, so counting their blows was fairly straight forward. At 9:12pm, they joined the other groups, close excitement calls from all groups followed. The ÒmeetingÓ continued until at 11:30pm the whales had come to a collective decision to make a try for Johnstone Strait on the tail end of the ebbing tide. Slack water was to be at 12:22am. The A54s led, then the A5 group and finally the I15s, all entering Johnstone Strait by midnight to continue their journey east together, It was going to be a very busy evening in the Strait and the beaches! All at the Lab and those listening were still happy that at least part of the A30s had made it back, summer was just not the same without them. 
OrcaLab
02 Sep 2023 11:47:45 PDT
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