Saturday, October 26, 2024





October 25th 2024 Northern residents: A62s, A23s Humpbacks: Inukshuk, Bumpy, Ridge, Cygnus and others Interestingly, October 25 started exactly the same way as the day before, with the A62s vocalizing in the southern entrance of Blackney Pass at 6:24am. Unfortunately, there was a lot of boat noise and it wasnÕt a pleasant recording to monitor. Humpbacks were also vocal in the same area, still awake after a busy night filled with incredible singing in what sounded like a much ÔquieterÕ ocean without the boat noise. The rest of the day would remain quite noisy on the hydrophones as the easterly winds picked up stronger and stronger, shaping the underwater sound of waves. By 7:22am, while the A62s were making their way east in Johnstone Strait, a report from Troy came in of 5 to 6 orcas with one big male rubbing at Bere Point! They headed east when they left the beach. This meant that a new group was arriving! Just before 9am, the A62s were in the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve. They foraged in the Tsitika Estuary for two hours or so. At 10:53am, their calls sounded excited and we were wondering if the new group was nearby. We were expecting this new group to acoustically Ôshow upÕ anytime now! Unbearable suspense! Drum roll! At 11:41am, Claire heard faint A5 calls in Johnstone Strait! Listening from afar, Dylan identified them as the A23s, which would match TroyÕs report of 6 orcas. They likely came in via Weynton Passage and were travelling east in the Strait. The A62s had left the Bight and were now on their way west again as their calls approached the Kaizumi Rubbing Beach at 11:54am. A few excited and frequent calls followed suggesting that both groups had met acoustically, then both the A1 (A62s) and the A5 (A23) calls faded at 12:44pm off the southern entrance of Blackney Pass. No further calls were heard after that except for a few ÒquacksÓ at 1:55pm accompanied by whistles, echolocation and brief sounds of rubbing at Kaizumi Rubbing Beach. One hour later, there was echolocation on the Parson Island hydrophone. We took a quick look at the remote Cracroft Point camera and immediately spotted orcas headed for Blackney Pass! They were traveling north with the fast ebb currents. After weeks without seeing Northern Resident orcas in Blackney Pass, we were beyond excited and looking forward to visually confirming the identity of the new group! At 3:05pm, a first male was spotted in Blackney Pass, soon joined by others. The distinctive dorsal fin of A83, of the A62s, was soon identified. Five minutes later, as he was passing Parson Light, A60, of the A23s, surfaced next to him! The last time the A23 matriline was in the area was September 13th! It was heartwarming to watch them together with the A62s from the cold and windy deck! They did a few tail slaps and interacted with a humpback before clearing our view silently into Blackfish Sound at 3:24pm, only emitting a few whistles and echolocation as they continued north. The rest of the day and night was open for humpback songs and left us wondering if the A23s had snatched the A62s.
OrcaLab
26 Oct 2024 15:35:32 PST
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Friday, October 25, 2024




October 22nd - 24th 2024 Northern residents: A62s Humpbacks: Inukshuk, Argonaut, Kailash, Ojos Blancos, Ridge, Bumpy, Freckles, Yahtzee, Moonstar, Cygnus, Quartz, Graffiti, Claw and Auger DallÕs Porpoises In the morning of October 22, there was echolocation in the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve. The A62s were foraging next to Critical Point, the eastern headland of Robson Bight. It was lovely to get a glimpse of their silhouettes as they slowly travelled west close to the Vancouver Island shoreline. Following the trend of the past few weeks, they later spent time in the rip off Cracroft Point. After 12:29pm, keeping to the Strait, they journeyed west. At 5pm, Scotty reported them easting off Telegraph Cove. We faintly heard them a short while later but it wasnÕt until the next morning at 9:11am that they were heard again, this time in Blackfish Sound. To get there, at some point during the interval, they had likely travelled out of Johnstone Strait via Weynton Passage. They were vocal for about 2 hours in Blackfish Sound before choosing to move into Weynton Passage again. They reached the Strait by 12:34pm and we spotted them near Kaikash on our Cracroft Point remote camera as they turned back west again! They remained in the Strait until just after 8pm. The next day on October 24, they were still in Johnstone Strait. By 6:29am they were off the southern entrance to Blackney Pass. We were left wondering what they had been up to during the night as they surely didnÕt travel very far away! They moved closer to the Vancouver Island side around 7:41am and traveled east for a while towards the Robson Bight (Michael Bigg) Ecological Reserve before turning back to the west again, ignoring the rubbing beaches. They were off the entrance to Blackney Pass at 11:28am westing mid Strait.Their calls faded after 1:35pm. With their calls echoing to the Main Rubbing Beach system between 3:30pm and 4:11pm they may have been moving east once more. As much as weÕd love to see them in Blackney Pass, they seem to enjoy the Strait, Weynton Passage and Blackfish Sound a lot. It has been speculated that a specific distribution of their favoured types of salmon has played into their choices of travel and focus. All the while, there has been constant humpback feeding activity in Blackney Pass along with incredible songs each night. The evening of October 24 was particularly spectacular with a very close song on the Parson Island hydrophone which mesmerized Claire and JŽrŽmie at the Lab and all those who were listening remotely. The songs of these giants are truly something special.
OrcaLab
25 Oct 2024 10:03:27 PST
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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
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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
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