A5 and Gs in Blackfish Sound Helena 22 Oct 2017 12:42:57 PST There's a lovely cormorant scene on the Parson Rock camera! And the humpbacks and dolphins have been very exciting this morning being vocal and worrying each other, maybe Wilkinson, Merge and Inukshuk among the many in Blackney Pass this morning. Sea Lions and Zuni the sea gull have been catching food.  Helena 22 Oct 2017 09:39:34 PST Orcas near mics. There's a lovely cormorant scene on the Parson Rock camera! And the humpbacks and dolphins have been very exciting this morning being vocal and worrying each other, maybe Wilkinson, Merge and Inukshuk among the many in Blackney Pass this morning. Sea Lions and Zuni the sea gull have been catching food.  Helena 22 Oct 2017 09:39:15 PST

No calls but orcas nearby So off into the sunset. The groups, A5s, G17s and another G clan group kept going to the west past the entrance of Blackness Pass. Helena 20 Oct 2017 18:09:15 PST Superb sounds!! Well this is exciting. We just reconnected the hydrophone at Robson Bight and without a beat there were A & G clan calls heard. So now we are trying to figure out who and where. Stay tuned! Helena 20 Oct 2017 16:12:42 PST

No orcas present. Yesterday - a quick note. Work on the Explore upgrades finished yesterday so we said good-bye to HDOnTap's Tim Sears and Andrew Olsen. With one last stop at "CP" we headed to Alert Bay despite the rain and wind. Accompanying us was Laura Gosset from the BornFree Foundation who was at OrcaLab for a brief visit. Everyone was crowded into the cabin along with all of Tim's and Andrew's gear. Despite the steamy window's Laura managed to see a few orcas heading west along the Hanson Island shore. This was at 12:18pm. By the time we got to Alert Bay, Jared Towers (also out and about on this blustery day) reported that he had found the A23s and A25s heading north in Weynton Pass. This was most likely the whales we had seen. We would like to thank Tim and Andrew for all the incredible work over the last three weeks. We would especially like to thank Mike Durban for his amazing assistance during this challenging time. And, a thanks to everyone for their patience while we adjusted the systems. In a day or so everything will settle down and hopefully we will be able to give our full attention to the whales once more. OrcaLab 17 Oct 2017 07:55:34 PST

No calls but orcas nearby Another nice surprise! The A34s were found off the Cracroft Point area this morning just after 9am. For a while they moved back and forth, mostly in the rip off the entrance to Blackney Pass and then made their way into Blackness Pass and headed north to Blackfish Sound about 12:30pm. Heard a radio report about seeing 30 orcas off Bold Head area yesterday. Hmmmm..... might be the ones we have been waiting for.The A34s are certainly keeping us on our toes while we finish up the system upgrades Helena 15 Oct 2017 14:19:26 PST

No calls but orcas nearby A nice surprise! The A34s came up to the entrance to Blackney Pass at 4:30pm and then travelled quickly through to Blackfish Sound in two waves around 5pm. The last call we heard in Blackfish was at 6:30pm so they are still not too, too far away. Where are the others?  Helena 14 Oct 2017 17:54:08 PST No orcas present. After all the glamour of yesterday! Today is such a contrast. Not only the sunny skies & calm seas have disappeared, replaced by grey, gloomy, wet and blustery, but the orcas as well. We have no idea where they ended up- never heard them after the final report that they (the A23/25s, A34s and G12s) were headed south in Weynton Pass in a resting line (exhausted probably from their continuous exertions for Chum). Let's hope they were satiated and happy with their day's effort. The humpbacks too have been quiet in contrast to yesterday's output. They are out there but mostly going back and forth sedately. The gulls are the one exception. There must be something tasty in this bay because they have been exercised about it all day. A cheerful addition to what should be a rather ho-hum, stay indoors kinda day, too bad we are all busy - it was more fun in the sun! Helena 14 Oct 2017 13:19:32 PST

Orcas near mics. Dolphins right now. Another long day, full of whales of every description. After almost 9 hours of hanging out in Blackfish Sound, the A23s/A25s, the G12s and the A34s finally moved into Weynton Pass and began to move south towards Johnstone Strait around 6:20pm. After a busy day Jared Towers finally got out to ID the whales and watch as they shifted from Blackfish to Weynton Pass. We have not heard them enter the Strait yet but we are aware of the dolphins tonight. All day humpbacks were incredibly vocal in Blackfish Sound at the same time as the orcas. In Blackney there were a lot of breaches and serious humpback foraging throughout the day. In the late afternoon Inukshuk came into Blackness Pass and headed south trumpeting along the way. Soon after there were humpback vocals on Parson Island. A coincidence? I'd like to think it was Inukshuk but there were others in the area as well. Quite the day but the best part is that it was a typical Fall day and it has been a while since we could say that! Helena 13 Oct 2017 22:11:10 PST Superb sounds!! Exciting A5 calls in Blackfish Sound with G clan as well!!! Perhaps if they come this way go to: http://explore.org/live-cams/player/orcalab-base Helena 13 Oct 2017 10:15:56 PST

No orcas present. This is a bit better! This morning at 7:36am we started a recording after hearing distant Resident calls on Flower Island/Blackfish Sound. We could just make out G clan calls in the midst of a beautifully vocal humpback also in Blackfish Sound. We made a guess that it was the gang who went by here yesterday. Sure enough. Alex saw the whales off wedge Island about 8:25am. Then a whale watch boat picked up the trail and found them near Foster Island area, closer to Malcolm Island at 12:30pm. Then Jared, who is on a MERS watch for humpbacks in trouble from fishing nets during the Opening reported that the A34s and the G12s were off Lizard Point. The A34s were eastbound. This was at 1:30pm. We have been waiting but have not heard or seen anything. The tide will soon be in flood so maybe that will encourage them to make another visit. Meanwhile, the sea lions are spread out across all the rocks to the south of us. There is fresh snow on the mountains and the humpbacks continue to go back and forth in Blackney. You can watch the seal lions by going to: https://explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-steller-sea-lion-haulouthttps://explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-steller-sea-lion-haulout Helena 11 Oct 2017 14:47:31 PST

Distant calls audible. It seems we are always catching up these days. The overhaul of the camera network continues and with it many disruptions. But there have also been the distractions of many trips to town for various reasons. Today, was no exception. We took off in a blustery gale to go to Alert Bay to listen to the Chiefs and others talk before the visiting Premier re the fish farms and the effort to get them out of this territory. The Premier listened but then made a five minute political speech promising nothing. Beyond disappointing. While we were gone, of course, orcas came by, first at 10am and then 12:20pm. Only the crew working on the systems were here and they were too busy elsewhere but made a note of the times. Thanks Mike! We had left a recording going so when we got back in the later afternoon we reviewed the recordings. Not many calls but it looks like the first group may have been the A12s. The second large group at 12:20pm sounded like the G12s. We know from the observations in Queen Charlotte Strait that the G2s, G27s and G62s (all of G12 pod) had been around accompanied by the A34s (A12s). Mike mentioned that the second group travelled through close to the Hanson (Orcalab) shore - darn and double darn! All the same it was good to think that they had in their search for Chum salmon come "down" to Blackney Pass. Several Humpback whales were in Blackney this afternoon (at least 5) and right now Pacific White-sided dolphins are vocal in Johnstone Strait. Hopefully, tomorrow, with no expected town run, we will get a second chance to get on track. Thanks again for you patience re the sporadic reports.  Helena 10 Oct 2017 21:50:45 PST

No calls but orcas nearby Last few days have been pretty much the same, juggling the ups and downs of the network. We appreciate everyone's patience. We have been attempting to monitor the sea lions and the humpbacks in the absence of the orcas. As a follow-up to our last report, the orcas that passed Cracroft Point headed west on October 3 turned out to include the T10s so most likely all the orcas that day were Bigg's orcas and that they ended up off Telegraph Cove by around 6:30pm. Andrew and Mike happened upon them there. In the days that followed, it has been all about the humpbacks, sea lions and dolphins. Each day at least five humpbacks have been in Blackney Pass. Frustatingly, mostly on the far side of the Pass foraging and going back and forth especially between West Pass and Parson Bay. Yesterday, Merge came close enough for an ID. Now for today! Kate Brauer has reported seeing a lot of Resident orcas near Bere Point this afternoon. Jared Towers is on scene and reports the G2s, G27s and G62s are foraging and rubbing!. Tide is in flood so......? Stay tuned. Helena 06 Oct 2017 13:26:17 PST

No orcas present. Oh, Oh ... time to catch up again! We are still trying to dodge and work around the Internet glitches but this does not mean that life on the outside has stopped. There has been actually a lot happening. The A34s were heard again after midnight (12:29 am) on October 3. It was an amazing recording even though the A34s were pretty much distant in Johnstone Strait the whole time. What made it interesting were the humpbacks! One was vocal pretty close to Robson Bight while another was doing the same off the entrance to Blackney Pass. It made for an interesting chorus. An hour and 15 minutes into the recording (1:45am) the A34s made a sudden burst of calls nearer to Cracroft Point. Then the boats transiting the area took over and the the network was flooded with boat noise and no further calls were detected. The humpbacks had ceased quite a while before. At 10:12 we received a repot via the Mackay's that there was a group of orcas milling off of Nomads Island (Queen Charlotte Strait). Yesterday afternoon a radio report said that there was a group of orcas heading into Johnstone Strait from Weynton Passage. Later the Lukwa reported that it was a group of six Bigg's orcas and that they travelled east mid strait. There were no calls. A group of dolphins were in the Strait as well. Just after 4pm, another group of orcas were seen travelling west near the CP area. The observers thought they might be resident types and described two males in the group along with others, one of whom had a visible notch at the base of her dorsal fin. Our CP camera was not available so we had to rely on the radio reports and the hydrophones. Unfortunately both were quiet and uninformative. We were not aware of any orcas coming through Blackney Pass. Two humpbacks however did. Inukshuk and a companion (never saw the flukes) came in from Blackfish Sound and travelled through Blackney. We followed them on the available Parson camera. Their backlit blows we quite lovely and at the same time there were a few HB vocalizations as well. They day was not quite over. The guys working at the house in Alert Bay on the systems there came back just as the sun was setting. They were stopped at 7:30pm by a group of orcas heading west into the sunset. Possibly this may have been the same groups who had been in Johnstone Strait earlier. Were they silent residents or all Bigg's orcas? We will try to find out what we can and let you know. People in Alert Bay had been entertained by a large group of dolphins going by and later we again heard dolphins about 8:40pm. There is a lot of life out there! Helena 04 Oct 2017 08:25:29 PST

Superb sounds!! You might forgive our ups and downs as you listen to the A34s close to Robson Bight! Our Internet is back right now and with it the Critical Point hydrophone in Robson Bight. The calls have been lovely. But they may be passing the point as I write. It has been quite the day with the A34s turning up early afternoon and then a group of Bing's travelling through Blackney Pass, followed by at least some of the A34s. Both groups ended up in Blackfish Sound. Our Internet was back down for a while so not sure which path the A34s took to get back to Johnstone Strait but so good to have them back again. Helena 01 Oct 2017 21:58:34 PST

Boat noise Well we are back, sort of, just a couple of links to tweak and then we should be good to go. meanwhile the rest of the world doesn't stop! This morning at 5am we had our first sustained "singing" from a humpback in Blackfish Sound. The rest of day was filled with sea lions, birds and wonderfully clearing skies! We heard about Bigg's whales up near Salmon Coast headed for Tribune yesterday and wondered if the Resident whales would come back. As we busied ourselves with yet another singing humpback in Blackney Pass around 6pm, Paul let us know that there were a large number of orcas at the beaches. They had caught everyone by surprised. Compromised by not having cameras and or hydrophones in key places we had no idea these whales were around. Paul too a few pictures which turned out to be invaluable. G59 of the G17s was clearly evident. The 3 groups were travelling parallel to each other and coming west. Once the Internet was reconnected we rebooted the software to listen to Robson Bight but we never heard anything and it was suspected that the whales may have turned back to the east. Who were G59s companions. There were certainly more than his group there. Later in the evening around 10:30pm Mike heard the Sandhill Cranes flying overheard. It was on September 21, last year, that we saw and heard them fly directly over the Lab - we must be on their route now! Lovely! Helena 29 Sep 2017 23:08:36 PDT

Performing maintenance We will lose our internet connection soon, and will probably be down for a few hours. Hope to be back later today. Apologies for the inconvenience! Paul 28 Sep 2017 11:19:19 PDT

No orcas present. Lovely dolphin scene on OrcaLab camera: http://explore.org/live-cams/player/orcalab-base Helena for OrcaLab 27 Sep 2017 11:40:26 PDT No orcas present. Couple of things. Yesterday, we experienced an interruption with the Internet. It was difficult to understand but because of another situation we all had to go to Alert Bay. That left no one monitoring the Lab. However, luckily Marie Fournier was on the Vector heading east in Johnstone Strait. As we headed to town we thought we might dodge the monitoring problem because the whales the day before had gone east and a report at 12:35pm said that a large group was still easting and headed for Nodales Channel. This meant we probably had time to get to town and back before anything happened. Not quite, Marie at 2pm, saw and reported whales coming west at the east end of the Reserve headed for the Main Beach while others (a large group were close to Cracroft Island shore off Forward Bay. Because we were in town it was possible to work the cameras. But by the time we got this organized the small group including G59, I68 and I136 had passed the beach. A quick check showed they had briefly touched down on the beach. So we waited and monitored the Robson Bight camera at Critical Point. Because the Internet was down on Hanson Island the software used to monitor the Critical Point hydrophone these days was not available. Using the Explore site to monitor the surface sounds we waited to hear blows as an indicator that the whales were close. This worked and for a while we followed the small group through the Bight. Then unfortunately we had to leave and could not follow the other group passing Cracroft Point. By now it was getting on for 5pm and we had to head to Telegraph Cove to pick up David and Barbara. As we headed out there was a foraging minke whale off Alert Bay. Mark McCallum who has been busy redoing the roof of the Main house at OrcaLab let us know that a group of whales passed in front of the Lab headed north. We imagined it was the whole group. Unsuspecting this was not the case we left Telegraph Cove after 6pm. The sun was beginning to set, the ocean and sky alike were touched by the developing sunset and glowed with soft colours. Halfway across we were surprise by an advancing line of orcas mid strait. We stopped turned off the engine and watched as they slowly, elegantly passed and turned toward Weynton Pass. It looked to be the G17s, I4s and as we later learned the G46s as well. G59 was further over closer to Hanson Island and possibly (it was too far to see) still with the I68s. Two humpbacks near the Plumpers and Hanson Island completed the tranquil scene. After a pause, we looked back down the Strait and saw,not too far off, a solid line of 200-300 dolphins leaping and heading straight for us. Before they reached us they suddenly veered towards Vancouver Island, then veered again and came rushing back across the Strait to their original position, and again headed toward our stationary boat. Under, around and under again they passed to the other side of the boat and into the light of the sunset. They turned again toward Telegraph Cove and in a singular moment all leaped clear of the water. The noise of their rush was amazing! We waited a while longer for them to be clearly heading away from us before we headed back home. When we got there the recording was still going (left to run when we departed for town) and we could still hear the A34s off in the distance in Blackfish Sound until just before 8pm. The dolphins were vocal past 9pm. It had been a long day! Dinner was needed! And then bed! As a postscript though we learned two things. First, the G2s, who had been seen on Monday, and heading east in the Lower Johnstone Strait on Tuesday morning, went past Campbell River that evening. Second, that possibly the groups that we had been following through the day went past Sointula between 11pm and midnight. Kate listened to their blows passing before she too called it quits and went to bed. The rest of the night, except for dolphins, was uneventful. One more thing: We are about to do a major overhaul of our equipment and this may cause broadcast interruptions. Sorry for this inconvenience but it will provide needed improvements.  Helena for OrcaLab 27 Sep 2017 10:45:40 PDT