Tuesday, October 22, 2024




October 21st 2024 Northern residents: A62s Humpbacks: Bumpy, Kailash, Stripe, Ripple, Inukshuk, Cygnus, Ridge, Quartz, Ojos Blancos, Ace Pacific White-Sided Dolphins Just before 1am, there was echolocation and N3 calls in Blackfish Sound, accompanied by a few Pacific White-sided dolphins vocalizations. At 2:36am, it became clear that these were the A62s as their distinctive vocals got clearer and more diverse, even though still quite distant, on the Flower Island hydrophone. They were soon louder on our Parson Island hydrophone at 2:48am, suggesting that the whales were travelling south in Blackney Pass! This would be the first time they had taken this route in a long time as they have been choosing to take Weynton Passage ever since they came back to the area on October 9th! Their calls sounded excited, even through the loud boat noise. They eventually paused for 5 minutes as the boat passed and were then vocal further east in Johnstone Strait, getting closer to the Kaizumi hydrophone located on Vancouver Island. Their calls were then mixed with humpback vocalizations and resonated throughout our hydrophone range in the Strait. It sounded like they were quite spread out and remained more or less vocal until 7:57am. Around midday, Jared reported the A62s resting westbound at Blinkhorn. Half an hour later, we heard them very briefly as they moved back within range of our hydrophone network. But it wasnÕt until 2:52pm that we pressed record again when they vocalized more clearly in the Strait when now travelling eastbound. Meanwhile, a lot of humpbacks in Blackney Pass were keeping Claire busy on this beautiful sunny day! There was a lot of feeding going on in Parson Bay by familiar individuals such as Ripple, Ridge and Quartz. We also observed a few more, listed at the top of this summary! By 4:34pm, Claire spotted blows approaching Kaizumi from the Cracroft Point remote camera. The A62s got louder and louder on the Kaizumi Beach hydrophone and people tuned in from afar to listen to their lovely clear calls. The familiar sound of ÔchuffsÕ swept in at 5:18pm! At least three orcas rubbed, undisturbed, for 11 minutes. After the rub, they continued west towards Kaikash and were vocal in this area for the next 2 hours, hopefully getting their bellies full while the snowy mountains turned pink as the sun set. At 7:29pm, a humpback Òwarmed upÓ in the Strait but did not follow through into song. The A62s continued to call sporadically in the Strait until 8:53pm. 
OrcaLab
22 Oct 2024 09:19:50 PST
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, October 21, 2024




October 18th - 20th 2024 Northern residents: A62s BiggÕs orcas: T019s Humpbacks: Ojos Blancos, Cygnus, Hunter, Argonaut, Inushuk, Quartz, Freckles, Claw and Auger, Ripple; at CP: Everdeen Pacific White-Sided Dolphins The A62s were last heard in Johnstone Strait in the early hours of October 18th. This day turned out to be a very stormy one on Hanson Island and only the sound of waves and occasional humpback vocals could be heard on the hydrophones. The next day at 3:58pm, after 36 hours of ÒsilenceÓ on our systems, the distinctive calls of the A34 matriline were back again. They were vocal in Blackfish Sound until 6:40pm. Since October 9th, the only Northern Residents, the A62s, have been present in the area. A62, Misty, born in 1994, is A34, SimoomÓs daughter and recently she has been traveling separately with her four boys. On October 20th, JŽrŽmie and Jianna went to Strider Rubbing Beach to remove the underwater camera in order to keep it safe from the winter storms. This camera has been such a great success this season and we look forward to reinstalling it next year! At 12pm, three orcas were reported travelling west in Johnstone Strait off Cracroft Island. By 1:51pm they were located on the remote Cracroft Point camera. At about the same time, there was echolocation and A34 calls in Blackfish Sound! Twenty minutes later, the three BiggÕs orcas came in from Johnstone Strait appeared in Blackney Pass. We soon recognized the dorsal fin of T019B. He was travelling with his brother T019C and their mum T019. Last we saw the T019s was on October 11th, very close to the lab. On both occasions, there was no sign of T018. They cleared into Blackfish Sound at 2:46pm. Meanwhile, the A34 calls were still registering in the same area until 6:20pm. The passage of the T019s happened just before Jianna, Nora and Tjasa departed the Lab and was welcomed as a farewell sign. We are immensely grateful for their help and will miss them dearly. 
OrcaLab
21 Oct 2024 15:00:30 PST
Posted by at No comments:

Friday, October 18, 2024




October 15th - 17th 2024 Northern residents: A62s BiggÕs orcas: T023s Humpbacks: Cutter, Hunter, Sponge Bob, Kailash, Ripple, Crochet, Cygnus and others Pacific White-Sided Dolphins For the past week, the A62s have been spending a lot of time foraging either in Blackfish Sound or Johnstone Strait. On October 15th, they chose to be in Blackfish Sound where we heard them from 9:16am until just before 7pm. During the afternoon, JŽrŽmie reinstalled the Sea Lion Rock camera using a custom made structure mounted on a tree with the help of Jianna and Nora. Soon after, back at the Lab, we were able to watch Blackfish Sound again using this remote camera and Jianna spotted whales coming towards Blackney Pass! We thought the A62s were finally coming! At 5:42pm, two orcas were seen on the far side including one male, two other orcas were traveling close to Burnt Point. They were not the A62s! They were BiggÕs orcas, identified later as T023D and T023D5 by Finwave. Their progress was very slow as they continued south while fighting the strong, opposing ebb currents. Those on the far side vanished while two other small fins joined the pair closest to us. As the light faded, these four orcas were headed for Johnstone Strait by 6:55pm. The calls of the A62s then also faded in Blackfish Sound. Just past midnight, we heard BiggÕs calls in Johnstone Strait and wondered if they were the T023s we saw in Blackney Pass earlier. While reviewing the early morning recording of October 16, Nora was surprised to hear the characteristic sounds of a rub at 1:47am! Dolphin chatter preceded the amazing orca calls and for once no boat noise disturbed the moment. After this 18 minute rub at Kaizumi the A62s moved west along the Vancouver Island side toward the area opposite the entrance of Blackney Pass as evidenced by the faint calls on the Parson Island hydrophone at 2:28am. Their calls were sporadic and distant for the rest of the night in Johnstone Strait until 8:52am. At 9:12am, Jared, from his house in Alert Bay, reported seeing three orcas headed North toward Weynton Passage. Sure enough at 10:24am, the A62s were back in Blackfish Sound. Initially, they sounded closer to the Flower Island hydrophone but then became more distant and sporadic until their calls ceased altogether by 6:25pm. A few minutes after this a humpback whale began to vocalise in Blackfish Sound. He was joined by another singer after 10pm and then another one at the southern entrance of Blackney Pass. Their incredible sounds continued throughout the night until just before sunrise. Following the trend of the past few days, the A62s were back in range of the Blackfish Sound hydrophone at 8:15am on October 17. It was lovely to wake up with Residents calls and see the fresh snow on the Vancouver Island mountains. Five hours later, their distant calls stopped once again in Blackfish Sound as they travelled south through Weynton Passage. By 1:42pm they were in Johnstone Strait where they traveled eastward favoring the Vancouver Island side. Tjasa spotted them near Kaizumi on the Cracroft Point remote camera. They soon turned back to the west towards Kaikash and were vocal on the Parson Island hydrophone system from 4:27pm until 6:27pm. An hour later, we heard faint N3 calls on the Strider Rubbing Beach and Main Rubbing Beach hydrophones up until 8:30pm, which suggested that the whales had turned east again towards the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve. At 10:11pm, the A62s had made their way west once more and were vocal on the Parson Island hydrophone. At 2am, we heard a rhythmic sound of crashing waves on pebbles, but there were two distinct rub-like ÔchuffÕ sounds and we suspect that one whale rubbed briefly at Kaizumi, without emitting any calls. From 3:12am until 3:27am, the A62s were faintly vocal in the Strait. After that, the songs of humpbacks kept going until the early hours of October 18.
OrcaLab
18 Oct 2024 15:37:58 PST
Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, October 15, 2024




October 12th - 14th 2024 Northern residents: A62s BiggÕs orcas: T109A2s, T055s, T090s, T101s Humpbacks: Argonaut, Cygnus, Hunter, Moonstar, Kailash, Sponge Bob, Cutter, Bumpy, Ridge, Claw and Auger, possibly Ripple, and others Pacific White-Sided Dolphins DallÕs porpoises On October 12th, after a night filled with humpback presongs, we started to hear the A62s again in Johnstone Strait at 5:48am. They remained present but distant for most of the day. Meanwhile, at 10:45am, one orca was spotted on the far side of Blackney Pass, never to be seen again. Twenty-five minutes later, four orcas appeared pointed north on the far side as well. The wind was picking up in Blackney Pass and tracking was difficult. They were too far to get a single good picture. Later around midday, Nicolette and Tjasa, when on their way to pick up a kayaker at Boat Bay reported two orcas at Swaine Point traveling east on the Cracroft Island side. There was no ready identification. We enjoyed this surprisingly warm day, not atypical for October, and welcomed Robyn and Scott from Pacific Pro Dive to offer a Dry Suit Diver Course to JŽrŽmie, Claire and Jianna as well as Gonzalo from Double Bay. They were all amazed by the diversity of creatures living just a few feet below the Lab such as, flabellina nudibranchs, brooding anemones, giant plumose anemones, sunstars, brittle stars, as well as, a giant Pacific octopus tucked inside his den and a curious sea lion! This dry suit certification will certainly be useful for Claire and JŽrŽmie who, along with Megan and Suzie, are involved in the installation and maintenance of the underwater systems. When the day ended, the A62s were still distantly vocal in Johnstone Strait. But at 11:53pm, there were suddenly ÒchuffsÓ at Strider Rubbing Beach! There were no close calls and the midnight rub only lasted for 2 minutes. But shortly afterwards, the Resident orcas started to call excitedly. BiggÕs orcas were then heard on the Parson Island hydrophone just after midnight. During the early hours of October 13th the A62s were still vocal in Johnstone Strait until 3:11am. Three hours later they were then heard faintly in Blackfish Sound which suggested they had gone west in Johnstone Strait after their rub and had taken Weynton Passage. They remained vocal into the afternoon. At 1:24pm more than ten BiggÕs orcas were spotted surfing the white capped waves quite close to the Lab! The group included three males and a baby. We identified the T109A2s and T055s amongst them and with help from the Finwave platform, the other individuals were identified as T090B, T090C, T101A and T101B. As they cleared to the north, we heard them calling in Blackfish Sound with the A62s still vocal in the distance. By 9:48pm, the Residents had made their way back to Johnstone Strait and were vocal until 10:12pm. By then a humpback had already started to Òwarm upÓ at the entrance of Blackney Pass. Another started in Blackfish Sound at 3:23am, making the ocean a vibrant acoustic space throughout the night! It was now October 14th and the A62s came into range again in Johnstone Strait at 4:06am and were soon off the entrance of Blackney Pass before they moved along. It had been a beautiful night shift without boat noise, The A62s called intermittently all morning in Johnstone Strait. At 11am, Nicolette reported orcas off Cracroft Point. They spent four hours foraging in the rip current before moving on to the west at 3:12pm. By 5:19pm, they were back in Blackfish Sound via Weynton Pass. Their calls got louder after 6pm on the Flower Island hydrophone and we were all hoping they would come through Blackney Pass as we watched the colors of the sky changing from blue to pink to purple. They did not. Their calls faded after 11:37pm. ItÕs interesting to note that the A62s have not travelled through Blackney Pass once since they got back to the area on October 9th. They have engaged in only a few short rubs too. Instead it seems they are busy feasting on all the Chum salmon in Blackfish Sound and off Cracroft Point! Although the A62s have not chosen Blackney Pass lately, humpbacks have been observed frequently feeding on bait balls. The day ended with exceptional humpback vocalizations off the entrance to Blackney Pass, with incredible echoes and eerie sounds. We always wonder who is making these calls at night, surely someone we saw during the day!
OrcaLab
16 Oct 2024 00:32:54 PST
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)