6 March, 2006 Cetacean lab reports

As we step outside there is not a sound. The sun has just risen leaving a light pink glow on the snowcapped mountains to the west. The sound of a loon echoes over the still waters that surround us. Then we hear it, a blow, followed by another… I run inside the house and begin a recording, though no calls have yet been heard. Hermann grabs the scope and heads out to the point for a better look. Then there it is, a call we recognize immediately. The A4s are here, a resident Orca family we are very familiar with. For those who are familiar with the story of Springer, this is her Pod! We soon realized there were many dorsal fins, and sure enough as this thought entered our minds, we began to hear A5 calls as well. The two pods are quite spread out as they travel past our location. We had already beached the boat because a storm was forecasted to arrive soon. We contacted the village of Hartley Bay to let them know that orca were headed in their direction. Sure enough, later that same day, the whole village was able to watch from the docks this group of whales as they headed north into Douglas Channel.

This was a nice and rare visit for this time of year and we hope that the whales will stay in our area for a while.