Saturday, June 30, 2007

30 June 2007, Orcalab reports:

Distant calls audible.

We were listening calls from several families since 4am; at least someone from A1 and R-clan. they were in Blackfish sound that time, but stopped calling about an hour ago. We are not sure which direction they have gone, back to North or to Weynton pass.
Tomoko
30 Jun 2007 05:55:30 PDT

Distant calls audible.

what a surprise! A30s are back! their calls are on Flower Island hydrophone.
Tomoko
30 Jun 2007 10:54:54 PDT

Sunday, June 10, 2007

10 June 2007, Cetaceanlab reports:

The next morning started very early. A report of orcas came at 6am, it was quite windy so Hermann said he would go out by himself as we did not think Neekas would appreciate the ride, she does not like to be left behind. Hermann traveled towards the shore of Campania when suddenly I heard A1 calls on the hydrophone in Whale Channel. This meant that a second group was coming in much closer to the lab. I called Hermann to let him know. He decided to come back this way as the weather was much calmer here. He picked us up and soon we were surrounded by blows and black dorsal fins of all sizes. We traveled with them as they made their way towards the first group Hermann had been with earlier. After taking identification pictures of every whale we knew for sure we had the A30s and the A24s, but still not sure on the 3rd group. So we put down the hydrophone and let out ears do the work for us. Very clear A1 and A4 calls, then there it was, C calls!! Once we arrived home we would go through the pictures more closely and try to determine which group this was. It turned out they were the C10s! This group of families eventually made their way north in Squally.

Saturday, June 09, 2007

9 June 2007, Cetacean lab reports:

On June 9th we had a report of a large group of orcas to the south of us. As usual we were quick to get our boat ready and since it was so calm we decided to bring Neekas, our dog, with us to see how she responds to our new boat. This turned out to be a great plan. She loved the boat and the whales were extremely attracted to her as she hung her nose over the bow checking them out. One young juvenile swam right beside the boat, on its side, just staring at Neekas, totally bored with us as our camera clicked away. This day we were with the A30s, the A5s including A51 and her calf and all of the A4s.