The 18 Hour Shift

As many of you know, I have been upgraded from tent to shack for a little while. At the moment I am living at Orcalab’s CP observation station. Here there are underwater cameras to be set up, a beautiful view of Johnstone Strait all the way down to Robson Bight, and places where cetaceans pass meters from shore. Only a few days ago a humpback came up around 5 ft from the rocks about 20m up the coast from us (this was possible because the land drops off into the sea in a cliff-like manner). The small hut I’m staying in was built well and retains heat better than any place I’ve been to up here. It’s nice to be able to watch the orcas and listen to them at the same time!

CP is a decision point for the orcas as they chose either to head up Blackney Pass into Blackfish Sound or keep going down the Strait. Thus, I have had many close encounters with cetaceans even though I have only been here for just over a week. One of my favourites was early on in my stay with A46 (Kiakash). We were observing him and his brother along with A12 foraging around CP when he decided to take some interest in the strange humans watching him. Like a submarine he rose, pointed west, eye patch fully above the water to expose his eye beneath. Then slowly he turned about 90 degrees so he could see us and gave us a good long stare. Being satisfied after a while, he once again sank beneath the waves.

I have seen members of all the A and B pods now plus the odd transient. The Bs are a quirky group with both males having extremely wonky fins. Slingsby (B10) had a fin bent at a 45 degree angle which has since straightened into a very bubbly fin that wobbles significantly when he rises and disappears into the waves. B13 is my favourite from the group. His fin has collapsed entirely, giving him a slight hump. In fact, every time the Bs are around there are reports from fishermen in the area of a small, fast humpback playing with them! B13 looks very much like a humpback, part of the reason this pod is so easy to identify.

At CP there are 18 hours shifts! I start watch as it begins to get light enough to see (around 5am) and don’t stop until it is too dark to see anything well (at 11pm). They are long days, but I get the nights off :P

The other day I got the opportunity to go to the rubbing beaches inside the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve to switch batteries on a hydrophone. It is here that the orcas enjoy swimming along the bottom of smooth, worn stones. There are three beaches near the Bight, one a bit further north, and one that is 20m underwater! It was interesting because the beaches don’t look very large above the tide line, but are quite extensive underneath. One of OL’s hydrophones is positioned so that the rubs can be heard as they swim past the rock wall it is placed on.

I hear orcas on the CP hydrophone so it is time to go scan for them.

Fair Winds