May has certainly turned out to be quite eventful for humpbacks who have seemingly returned in numbers already. Jackie Hildering of MERS commented that she has already been swamped by reports. We too have been sending her photos of the humpbacks who have been in Blackney Pass for confirmation. Happy to report that some familiar "faces" have returned. Argonaut, Jigger, Guardian and Linea (new for us), as well as, Galaxy, Slate,Uluka, Cutter, and Squiggle further afield. Jackie offered an interesting account of Uluka and Slate on April 30th: "They have been repeatedly seen together as of April 20. First sighted off Pender Islands. Yesterday morning they were in Nodales (known thanks to photos from Jack Springer). Now off Alert Bay. In past years, these two have spent the most time from Campbell River to Victoria." Matchu, who is at OrcaLab, is loving listening to the humpback activity at night as they breath, breach, roll. Magical. Helena 08 May 2018 08:13:12 PDT No calls but orcas nearby Not orcas BUT we had our first humpbacks come through Blackney Pass. AND, just as we were leaving Alert Bay after 4pm there were two humpbacks heading west. Soon after we got back we saw the ones in Blackney. 5 Humpbacks in total. We will let you all know once we get the IDs from Jackie. Jared Towers went out to both locations and got pictures. All good! Helena 30 Apr 2018 20:48:53 PDT No calls but orcas nearby Sorry, things happened pretty quickly! We think it was the T137s with T63 (Chainsaw) and T65. They headed south through Blackney and east in Johnstone Strait. They were on the OrcaLab camera, Seal lion camera , Parson Island and CP cameras as well. You can scroll back on www.explore.org on the appropriate cameras. They went quiet after being in Blackfish Sound and before they got to Blackney Pass. Helena 23 Apr 2018 12:30:42 PDT Distant calls audible. We just were recording a group of Bigg's orcas in Blackfish Sound. They faded off after being quite vocal and we are waiting to see if we can figure out where they went. Sounded like they had something to eat. Helena 23 Apr 2018 11:09:56 PDT It is now perhaps appropriate to do this final summary about the wanderings of Yukusam. In the early hours of March 18 Lisa, at OrcaLab, was continuing to hear and record Yukusam as he moved around Johnstone Strait. He remained present until just before noon and Lisa guessed (correctly, as it turned out) that he had gone east. It all seemed so normal for what we had come to expect from him. We did not immediately realize that this time he was finally on his way. After all, he had that habit of coming back. On March 10, Shayla Attfield spotted Yukusam far to the east off Sayward. But soon afterwards he managed, once again, to find his way back to the upper Johnstone Strait. But the rest of March 18 was not without some unrelated drama. Towards late afternoon, early evening, we received a call that there were humpbacks off Blackney Pass. This was exciting news as they had not yet arrived back in this area. The relayed report sent Lisa and Janie headed to the Lab to check with the cameras. As they got to the Lab, they heard the distinctive sounds of Bigg’s orcas (and briefly faint dolphins) off the entrance to Blackney Pass and began to think that the blows thought to be humpbacks were probably the Bigg’s. While they recorded, Helena (in Alert Bay) took a look around on the remote cameras and located the orca group heading west across the entrance to Blackney Pass. Later, this same group passed Alert Bay where Robin Quirk took photos from which it was later determined that these were the T19s. With the excitement of the the Bigg’s over, and Yukusam not seemingly in range, the day ended peacefully. However, as subsequent days passed without any sign of Yukusam it began to dawn that he might just have moved on. After more than a month of his almost daily presence the Strait began to feel quite empty. No longer was there the comforting rhythm of his continuous powerful clicks, some heavy like a hammer, others like the sharp sound of stone being struck, others like rapid fire. Gone were were the unexpected special sequences, the coda-like bursts that startled and made us wonder what Yukusam was really up to. Gone were the “creaks” or “buzzes” that kept us guessing whether or not he was hunting, and if so, whether successfully. Our lives had fallen into step with his presence, movements and sounds. We worried about him. When conditions were right Jared made trips out to see him. On two of these occasions Lisa went with him providing the Lab with closer photos and impressions. They were able to ascertain that Yukusam seemed in reasonable, even good condition, despite being in such unfamiliar waters with the uncertainty of prey availability. He had rhythms not only in his sound patterns but also in the manner in which he travelled up and down the Strait. On average, up for 10 minutes down for forty, up near Robson Bight, then Kaikash, Blinkhorn, and finally past the Wastells, where he would eventually begin the turn and retrace his steps to the east. Sometimes we got lucky and found him with the remote cameras. The view was inevitably distant but satisfying beyond expectations. Photographer Ian McAllister, sailing north in the Strait on his way to the central coast, happened on him by chance east of Robson Bight around 6pm on March 14 and sent the photos for our records. Our last “look” on the remote camera was on March 17 when he was off Little Kaikash headed east just after 6pm. Paul and Helena had just returned to Alert Bay from visiting the Lab and were listening to Yukusam when he suddenly became silent. This was taken as a clue that perhaps he was on his way up to the surface. Sure enough, he was located just in time to catch his last blows and tail as he dove. Even though the actual sightings were few Jared had managed to get a lot of information during his excursions, and our recordings lent an added layer as well, so everyone felt fairly happy with the effort. Many people were consulted during this extraordinary time. OrcaLab would like to thank Hervé Glotin and Elizabeth Zwamborn in particular. Both Jared and Lisa were also in contact with others who aided in our collective understanding of this amazing species. But it was this one, 13 meter solitary whale, who had kept us all on a string from February 11 to March 18 was our exceptional instructor. He was nearly all anyone could think about, day or night. Then he was gone. As the following days passed we imagined that we would never know where his journey would lead him. Then on March 27th word came from John Ford that Yukusam was off Nanaimo! Pictures and recordings were taken. Yukusam, in nine days had travelled the entire length of Johnstone Strait, possibly through the tricky passage of Seymour Narrows and on into Georgia Strait. John reported that he apparently went down Northumberland Channel but turned back before going through Dodd Narrows and was last seen off Pipers Lagoon at dusk. What could possibly happen now? A few more uneventful days passed, and then on March 31 he was again located heading into Haro Strait off the northern tip of Stuart Island, Washington. A few hours later, two local hydrophones picked up his characteristic clicks. Because the Lime Kiln hydrophone broadcasts to the public we got to listen that night to Yukusam one more time! How reassuring, speaker close by, listening to that familiar “voice” with a clear picture of him in our minds as the strong clicks persisted. Sometime later (not too long afterwards) he moved on, his clicks fading into the depths. By morning with no further news, we began to hope he had continued to find his way out to open waters and perhaps back to more familiar playgrounds. Yukusam, we wish you well. Thank you for the visit. You touched so many. We will remember. OrcaLab 03 Apr 2018 09:40:08 PDT Superb sounds!! Yukusam, who has been travelling south lately through Georgia Strait and into Haro Strait is vocal on: http://pro.stream101.com/player2/?ip=2&port=8047&username=smrucons So wonderful to hear him again as he journeys on. OrcaLab 31 Mar 2018 21:39:58 PDT A large group of Transients (Biggs) have been reported near Donegal Head. They are foraging at the moment but we are hopeful they will travel this way. Janie 30 Mar 2018 18:05:05 PDT Superb sounds!! Amazingly, it has been a full month since Yukusam, the Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) first showed up in Johnstone Strait. He is still here moving back and forth, up and down Johnstone Strait. A lot of his time has been in range of our hydrophone network and Lisa, at OrcaLab, has been recording any and every time she has heard his clicks whether day or night. This has been an incredible effort. Quite sure no one expected the need for such an intense and sustained effort during the usually more uneventful winter months. But thanks to Lisa’s effort we have a pretty complete record of Yukusam’s presence. On several occasions, after being alerted that Yukusam was present, Jared Towers made the effort to observe and document him directly. These observations have been so valuable and have provided information on Yukusam’s size (between 40 and 45 feet), condition (he looks robust) and behaviours. Lisa has been fortunate to go out twice with Jared. As Yukusam’s patterns of travel, diving and respirations became better understood it became possible, on occasion, for the OrcaLab remote cameras to follow his progress. Most of these videos are distant and brief but it has been exciting to locate his “bushy” breaths in the expanse of Johnstone Strait. Once, Yukusam surfaced as he approached Robson Bight and the camera was able to follow his progress through several respirations. Jared was following and when he later reviewed the video he was able to gauge Yukusam’s length by comparing it to the known length of his boat. As this event has unfolded there have been several consultations. Hervé Glotin, (Univ. Toulon & CNRS LIS, Data Science & Bioacoustics, sabiod.org/EADM, DYNI) and his lab have been analyzing Yukusam’s clicks, “creaks” and “clangs”. From the early recordings sent to him, Prof Glotin’s initial concern was that Yukusam was not spending enough time feeding. He is hoping to provide more detail through his access to OrcaLab’s full audio live stream. Elizabeth Zwamborn, who is a former OrcaLab assistant and currently a PhD student at Prof Hal Whitehead’s lab at Dalhousie University has offered her experiences and knowledge of Sperm whales. She has both looked at several recordings sent to her and consulted with her colleagues at the lab. Jared has also consulted with his Sperm whale contacts to gain information about lone sperm whale occurrences in like ‘inside water’ situations. Sperm whales in high latitudes are normally found off shore but there have been a few incidences where they have been found in inner waters where they stayed for up to two months before moving on. It has been very difficult to determine definitively whether Yukusam is successfully foraging. Johnstone Strait is a deep canyon where there are some possible resources for Yukusam. His behaviours suggest fitness. His dives average around 35-40 minutes and that has not so far changed. He ranges quite far although he has shown a preference to the stretch from Naka Creek to Hidden Cove just past Telegraph Cove. His body shows no sign of deterioration so far. We remain cautiously optimistic and completely captivated! https://soundcloud.com/user-361819329/180305131938-1h29m17s OrcaLab 11 Mar 2018 15:29:33 PDT No calls but orcas nearby A42s on CP cam, heading west off CP, now! OL crew 04 Mar 2018 15:29:24 PST Amazingly, Yukusam the Sperm Whale is still around. Our days, especially Lisa's, revolve around his presence when and while he does his runs, both west and east, up and down, Johnstone Strait. Lisa is sending much of her day (and night) recording Yukusam on a fairly regular basis. When present he produces clicks all the time and we have learned to listen to the changes of their frequency and rhythms. We have been looking at the spectrograms to see if he might be feeding. It is very difficult to say for sure if he is successful but there are some patterns of clicks which look promising. Sperm Whales like to eat and need a lot of food so fingers crossed. On Feburary 22 Jared and Lisa got out again when both the weather and Yukusam allowed. Here is a description of that day. At 10:38am Jared Towers after observing a group of Bigg’s orcas found Yukusam off Schmidt Creek heading west. Schmidt Creek is east of the Robson Bight (Michael Bigg) Ecological Reserve. By 11:09 am, Yukusam was heard on OrcaLab’s remote hydrophone at Robson Bight. He was on the surface for a few minutes as he travelled west and was filmed with the remote camera as Jared followed. By comparing him to his 17.5 foot boat Jared later watching the video speculated Yukusam might be over 40 feet. Yukusam dove and did not resurface until west of Robson Bight. He typically dives between 30 and 40 minute and then only ten minutes on the surface. A lot of patience goes into observing him. By 12:22pm he was off Kaikash Creek opposite Cracroft Point and 36 minutes later he was near Blinkhorn, then after 43 minutes by the Wastell Islets. Yukusam continued west until he was between Hidden Cove and the Pearse Islands. When on the surface there he was clearly visible from our house in Alert Bay. Jared and Lisa took some wonderful pictures of him with Alert Bay in the background. Around 4pm, the time came for Yukusam to eventually retrace his way back to the east. Jared dropped Lisa at Hanson Island and after warming up and grabbing a bite to eat Lisa was back in the Lab making sure the recording was okay. She continued to record his progress east while still in range for another 4 hours. A long but rewarding day. Here is the link to some of Yukusam’s sounds from yesterday. https://soundcloud.com/user-361819329/yukusam-1 Helena (OrcaLab) 26 Feb 2018 22:18:53 PST Superb sounds!! Yukusam the Sperm Whale has been "clicking" away in Johnstone Strait all day. A lovely background percussion! OrcaLab 24 Feb 2018 15:47:38 PST Superb sounds!! Yukusam the sperm whale came back to JS yesterday afternoon and was heard until after 2am. Now he is back echolocating at Critical Point Lisa 22 Feb 2018 12:12:21 PST Orcas near mics. Bigg's orcas continuing to be very vocal, now on Cracroft Point hydrophone as well. OrcaLab 22 Feb 2018 06:45:19 PST Orcas near mics. Nice close exited Biggs Orcas on Critical Point hydrophone right now Lisa 18 Feb 2018 04:57:29 PST Superb sounds!! Yukusam the sperm whale came back from the east last night at 21:38 and was heard in Johnstone Strait until just before 7 am this morning. And now he is back again at CRPT doing his echolocation clicks Lisa 17 Feb 2018 11:02:32 PST Superb sounds!! Sperm whale echolocation to be heard on CRPT and CP still Lisa 16 Feb 2018 09:00:03 PST Superb sounds!! Sperm whale echolocation clicks heard again on Critical Point and CP Lisa 16 Feb 2018 00:47:32 PST No orcas present. Yesterday, we last heard the sperm whale around 10am. We are guessing he disappeared past the Ecological Reserve. But we will have to wait. They have the ability to make really long dives and not always vocal. Still very exciting and keeping us focused! OrcaLab 15 Feb 2018 09:46:46 PST Superb sounds!! Spermwhale echolocation clicks on Critical Point hydrophone right now!!! Lisa 13 Feb 2018 21:27:03 PST No orcas present. Today was so special! Not just because the sperm whale returned this morning but because of all the great effort made by several people to document this event. It started around 7am this morning when Lisa Larsson began a recording of the clicks off Robson Bight. An hour and half later, the sounds we echoing to the Cracroft Point hydrophone so pretty sure the whale was westbound. Lisa let Jared know and he got ready to head out with the intention of picking up Lisa on the way to assist. Helena and Paul monitored the the hydrophones and cameras from Alert Bay. Jared and Lisa put a hydrophone in the water off CP and could hear clicks. But the sperm whale (who can dive from 30 -45 minutes) proved elusive and no one could locate him. Jared decided to head east and made it to Naka Creek around 11am. Still no luck but, in the meantime, Alex (who was also on the look out in case the whale went through the passes) spotted southbound orcas heading towards Weynton Pass and mentioned that there were calls on the Flower Island hydrophone before they disappeared into the pass. Jared was alerted and he decided to come back towards the west. By 12pm, they were back off CP listening. At 12:36pm we could see blows to the west on the CP camera and at 12:42pm Jared texted that they had found both the orcas and the sperm whale off Blinkhorn. During this, Elizabeth Zwamborn, who is studying whales in Nova Scotia was offering helpful information about sperm whale behaviours and acoustics as the day unfolded. Around 1pm, the clicks became quite frequent and sometimes loud despite the distance. Jared stayed with the sperm whale and got pictures. Then at 12:48pm he went off to identify most of the T137s who were continuing east. An hour later, leaving the orcas off Kaikash, Jared and Lisa went back to the west to try to locate the sperm whale. As the clicks continued they found him/her just before 2pm. At 2:18pm the whale fluked off of the Wastell Islands. By 3pm, the sperm whale was headed east mid strait off Big Bay. Being extremely patient with no whale in sight, Jared positioned himself off Cracroft Point and waited. The clicks continued and so Jared asked to be informed when the clicks stopped for 3+ minutes when he might expect the whale to surface again. Right on cue, the sperm whale surfaced at 3:27pm not far from Jared and blew repeatedly until fluking and diving out of sight. We have not seen him/her again but there is some daylight left. It was an intense but satisfying day (and maybe not over yet!) OrcaLab 12 Feb 2018 19:12:59 PST Distant calls audible. Bigg's Orcas are calling at Cracroft Point hydrophone right now Lisa 07 Feb 2018 20:38:18 PST Distant calls audible. We are hearing Pings on PI and CP right now Lisa 03 Feb 2018 08:46:00 PST Distant calls audible. It was the I33s and the I35s in G-clan(ID by Jared Towers)that passed through Blackney Pass and then continued East in Johnstone Strait and are now echolocating on the Critical Point hydrophone Lisa 02 Feb 2018 17:04:46 PST Superb sounds!! G-clan calls with Pings on Flower Island Lisa 02 Feb 2018 13:23:35 PST No calls but orcas nearby Some A5 calls were heard on PI and CP just after midnight yesterday but were gone within minutes. Sounded like they were moving quickly Lisa 18 Jan 2018 10:57:57 PST Superb sounds!! Nice Biggs Orcas calling on Flower Island right now! Lisa 16 Jan 2018 06:42:39 PST Superb sounds!! Biggs Orcas on Flower Island hydrophone right now! Lisa 11 Jan 2018 20:40:52 PST Distant calls audible. It has been quite the day as all the A5s were together in Johnstone Strait. The A42s were seen along with the A23s and A25s. We had suspected that the A42s had made it back around the end of December but this was the first visual confirmation thanks to the efforts of Jared Towers. All the A42s look well and of course their pod mates, the A23s and A25s have been seen off and on through December and January. Helena & Lisa 10 Jan 2018 19:23:40 PST Distant calls audible. We are now hearing resting calls, N3's, on CP with close echoes to PI Lisa 10 Jan 2018 19:15:42 PST Distant calls audible. The A5's are vocal on CP right now! Lisa 10 Jan 2018 10:16:42 PST Distant calls audible. Now very faint calls from A5s on CP Lisa 08 Jan 2018 19:50:48 PST Distant calls audible. Now we are hearing distant resting calls at CP Lisa 08 Jan 2018 17:35:40 PST No calls but orcas nearby Lisa is following a group of Bigg's orcas on the Orcalab cam as they head south in Blackney Pass: Orca Cam - live streaming video of wild Orcas | Explore.org Watch Orcas socialize and hunt in their natural habitat with our live Orca camera based in British Columbia. Learn Orca facts and share your snapshots. EXPLORE.ORG OrcaLab 08 Jan 2018 12:56:24 PST Distant calls audible. Distant Orca calls on Flower Island Lisa 08 Jan 2018 08:08:17 PST Distant calls audible. The A5's appeared on PI last evening at 20:40 and then disappeared within 10min on CP with with sporadic resting calls Lisa 06 Jan 2018 09:41:22 PST Superb sounds!! Big's orcas in Blackfish Sound! OrcaLab 03 Jan 2018 20:15:28 PST Superb sounds!! The A23s and A25s have become clearly vocal. They apparently had a long rub at Kazumi and are off the entrance to Blackney Pass again. Helena & Lisa 30 Dec 2017 14:55:01 PST No calls but orcas nearby We have located them thanks to Jared Towers. They are on the Parson Rock cam: http://explore.org/live-cams/player/orcalab-parson-island off the entrance to Blackney Pass on the vancouver Island side. Helena 30 Dec 2017 11:42:42 PST No calls but orcas nearby We are waiting to see if the A23s and A25s come into range of the CP camera. We had a repot from Elizabeth Zwamborn that they entered Johnstone Strait and are heading east. Clear sunny days, so fingers crossed. You can help us keep track by going to : https://explore.org/livecams/orcas/orcalab-cracroft-point-surface Helena, Lisa and Paul 30 Dec 2017 10:41:29 PST It has been a very nice Orca holidays too this last week. At around four in the afternoon on the 23'rd we started hearing faint calls from the I15's of the G-clan approaching from the north, and some five hours later we heard A5's approaching CP before fading off again. Then suddenly after three days of Orca silence the I15's (I27, I4 and I65 Matrilines) appeared in Blackney Pass entrance at ten in the morning on the 26'th and passed by with the outflowing tide heading north in utter silence. Then the next day on the 27'th the A5's (A23 & A25 matrilines) did exactly the same ting at the same time, also in silence. Such a joy to see them again Lisa 28 Dec 2017 19:48:10 PST Distant calls audible. A clan Orcas slowly approaching CP hydrophone right now Lisa 23 Dec 2017 21:51:35 PST Distant calls audible. G-clan resident Orcas slowly coming closer on Flower Island hydrophone Lisa 23 Dec 2017 16:30:55 PST Superb sounds!! Nice humpback song on Flower Island right now! Lisa 05 Dec 2017 22:30:51 PST Superb sounds!! Humpback singing on Parson Island hydrophone right now Lisa 27 Nov 2017 18:14:53 PST Orcas near mics. Transients, Biggs Orca on Critical Point hydrophone right now! Lisa 22 Nov 2017 17:32:02 PST Superb sounds!! Nice humpback song by Parson Island right now Lisa 18 Nov 2017 15:01:23 PST Superb sounds!! Nice falsetto-singing humback on the local hydrophone right now Lisa 16 Nov 2017 17:30:13 PST Superb sounds!! Humpback on local hydrophone echoing to Parsons Island right now Lisa 14 Nov 2017 14:17:15 PST Superb sounds!! Humpbacks vocalizing on CRPT, PI and FI at the same time Lisa 13 Nov 2017 18:12:36 PST Superb sounds!! Nice close Humpback on Flower Island hydrophone right now Lisa 13 Nov 2017 04:51:52 PST