31 August Orcalab reports

09:49 PDT No calls but orcas nearby
some group of whales have been seen in north off Foster Island, no ID yet. some of them are coming down to Blackfish sound.

10:12 PDT Distant calls audible.
We are hearing A4 calls on CRPT. the A11s who came back from the east last night, now going east to the bight. There are T18s off Big Bay too.

11:25 PDT No calls but orcas nearby
The T18s went north through Blackney Pass. it seems like the I15s are entering the Strait through Weynton.

11:28 PDT Distant calls audible.
We started hearing I15 calls on CRPT. A group of whales just came into Blackney from north, no calls from this group.

11:35 PDT Distant calls audible.
the T143s are going south through Blackney Pass.

11:48 PDT Orcas (may be) approaching cameras.
the T143s are going into JS, the T18s changed direction and following them. nice Transient calls!

12:04 PDT Orcas (may be) approaching cameras.
T18s and T143s are in front OF CP, A11s and A8s are rubbing









13:02 PDT Orcas near mics.
The A11s left Rubbing beach, came back to the Bight. The I15s are along VI side off Kaikash, going east. T18s and T143s are going east along to CI side.

15:22 PDT No calls but orcas nearby
After meeting up off Robson Bight the A11s,A8s and the I15s headed east. A few brushed past the beaches. The transients of earlier are a bit further east near Naka Creek. They are also east bound at the last report. The A30s are east bound in Blackfish Sound nearing Blackney Pass.

29 August Orcalab reports

09:07 PDT No calls but orcas nearby
we were surprised about 20 minutes ago by the sound of blows heading south through Blackney Pass very quickly. They should be in the Strait by now. No calls, no clues.

09:23 PDT No calls but orcas nearby
CP had good visibility and could see that the small group was transients. Tomoko and Paul T think that the transients went to the west after entering the Strait.

28 August Orcalab reports

Multiple pod calls audible.

We just had a small group of transients go by, headed north, mid channel. They breached as they left our view and then apparently gave chase to a minke in Blackfish Sound. The residents were coming east in Blackfish at the time. The hunt is continuing opposite Bold Head. The Bs are not far away.
Helena
28 Aug 2005 15:07:11 PDT

No calls but orcas nearby

The A30s followed the A36s and the i15s into the strait and at about the same time the Bs came in via Weynton Pass (4pm). the B had been following the rest into Blackfih sound when the transient/minke whale encounter happened. They turned and went through the "Blow-hole to Weynton Pass and then on to the Strait. from eye witness accounts the transients were unable to catch the minke.
Helena
28 Aug 2005 16:32:07 PDT

Orcas near mics.

Despite the boat noise the A30s are sounding great in the Bight. They crossed from Boat Bay and are in the reserve now fishing. Reports from Robson Bight Charters via the Naiad: the a11s and the A8s are back in Nodales, the A36s are headed east from Hickey Point and the I15s are west bound at Camp Point. The t18s are in Chancellor Channel. fog is rolling back in but the sun keeps trying.
Helena
19 Aug 2005 12:47:05 PDT

Distant calls audible.

a group of whales (transients?) are going south in Blackney pass.
Tomoko
18 Aug 2005 01:28:32 PDT

No calls but orcas nearby

Good morning everyone! We began hearing the the A30s on the Critical Point hydrophone shortly after 7am, but are not yet sure of their direction. And, a few minutes ago, a small group of transient orcas passed close to CP, heading east. This is already an interesting day!
Paul
18 Aug 2005 07:58:41 PDT

No calls but orcas nearby

The I15s and the A30s conrinued quickly to the east. They are now well past Naka Creek. Meanwhile, the transients of earlier this morning travelled back to the west & the Sophia Islands where they killed a Dalls porpoise. They vocalised briefly and then headed off to the east again. The Naiad Explorer found the A36s off the White Cliff Islets just north of Swanson Island in Queen Charlotte Strait.
Helena
18 Aug 2005 14:27:59 PDT

Distant calls audible.

The transients are on Flower Island.
Helena
17 Aug 2005 21:01:37 PDT

Superb sounds!!

We're listening to transient orca calls on the Flower Island hydrophone!
Paul
17 Aug 2005 22:44:03 PDT

Distant calls audible.

After beautiful Transient calls, we started hearing A30 calls on CRPT hydrophone.
Tomoko
17 Aug 2005 23:19:37 PDT

Multiple pod calls audible.

The A30s have arrived back in the Strait and have met up with the A12s,A4s,A36s and Cs. they are eastbound from the west end of Hanson Island. meanwhile the very big group of transients of the last couple of days just went through Blackney to blackfish Sound after passing CP.
Helena
13 Aug 2005 09:34:13 PDT

Superb sounds!!

We are listening to transients in Blackfish sound!
Tomoko
13 Aug 2005 10:08:52 PDT

Multiple pod calls audible.

It is certainly one of those days - very intense. The transients are continuing west from the west end of Blackfish Sound while the residents (the A36s, Cs (C10s,C6s), A4s (A11s at least) and A30s continue to move into the Reserve. The A12s turned back to the west at the Sophias and are moving towards CP once more.
Helena
13 Aug 2005 11:30:54 PDT

No calls but orcas nearby

There is a large group of transients heading into the Strait after passing Alert Bay a while earlier. The Rs and Ws continued to the west.
Helena
11 Aug 2005 17:13:39 PDT

Orcas approaching Orcalab.

The large group of transients is near Big bay on the hanson island side. They are still moving toward the eastern end of Hanson Island. No calls. CP is filming but they are still distant.
Helena
11 Aug 2005 18:03:34 PDT

No calls but orcas nearby

The transients after being quite active off CP and the entrance of Blackney are headed east now. They are split still into two groups. The group which came close to CP has carried on down the Cracroft Island shore while the other group stayed mid strait and is off the Sophia Islands by now.
Helena
11 Aug 2005 19:08:02 PDT

Orcas near mics.

We've been hearing occasional calls from the transient orcas on the Critical Point hydrophone... sounds like some of them are in Robson Bight, probably heading east.
Paul
11 Aug 2005 20:57:41 PDT

No calls but orcas nearby

Lots happening! the A12s turned off big bay and are now headed across to the Vancouver Island shore. A group of transient orcas have come out of Knight Inlet and are headed toward Donegal Head. And finally, the very BIG group which was seen earlier in the day is still far to the west of the "core area". Some of the groups have broken off and moved away while another group remains off the Port Hardy airport and is still eastbound. There is not yet a complete description of who has been positively sighted but it may include A4s, A5s along with Cs.
Helena
10 Aug 2005 16:40:21 PDT

No orcas present.

Hello everyone! It has been a very long time since we have made any comment. There hasn't been any northern resident activity around here although the A36s were seen on the northern coast at the beginning of April. Around April 20th there were numerous transient sightings from Port Hardy to here in Blackney Pass. We recorded several hours of transient calls in Blackfish Sound on the 21st. This was an unusually long session (for transients) and unfortunately, the fog defeated our attempts to find out which whales were calling. Dolphins have been around through the winter and spring. Perhaps the most exciting news came from Donna MacKay, Nic Dedeluk and Alex Morton that humpbacks are back in the area. We haven't seen any yet but are keeping a watchful eye on the Pass just in case. We can definitely sense that the seasons are turing and summer will not be long in coming!
Helena & Paul
25 Apr 2005 13:18:21 PDT

No calls but orcas nearby

Hi, It has been a couple of days since we have heard any more resident calls but this morning 8 transients, reported by the Herberts on Pearse Island, were seen headed west in the Strait. The MacKays (Naiad Explorer) later reported that they found them off Sointula quite involved in a kill of a Harbor porpoise. The adults allowed the young ones make the kill. Donna & Bill noted that the whales were silent but quite physical, breaching and pec slapping. The good weather continues around here but it is forecast to change over the weekend. We need both rain here and snow higher up so a change will be welcome although it has been unbelievably nice to pretend that winter has disappeared. Have a great day wherever you may be.
Helena & Paul
25 Feb 2005 14:22:03 PST

No orcas present.

Good day everyone! It's a lovely, cold & sunny morning here, with a brisk easterly wind blowing & a very high tide coming. The sun rose over Mt. Derby (Robson Bight) just before 9am, so we are already gaining visible light! We've heard no resident orcas calling so far this year (not since the day after we closed the Orca-live season mid November) we've heard transients calling occasionally, including just before midnight lasat night. We are fine, keeping as warm as possible, and continuing to focus our thoughts on the victims of the Tsunami, & we hope you are doing well, wherever you are.
Paul
09 Jan 2005 13:38:05 PST

No orcas present.

Good day everyone! It is still fairly quiet here: a few days ago there were transients heard in Johnstone Strait in the early hours of the morning, we have had reports of dolphins in the inlets and we do occasionally see sea lions travelling by. After several days of below freezing temperatures we woke up this morning to much milder temperatures and no snow unlike most of the rest of the coast. There is still a dusting of frost on the logs so winter has not totally disappeared yet. Keep well and safe.
Helena
06 Jan 2005 11:45:59 PST