Just under a month here till I’m off sailing the Pacific Northwest, and the orcas still haven’t arrived. Well.... not really. We did have a grand tour sweep past the area on the eighth of July when matrilines from four different pods swam in from the north, spent the day at local hangouts, and swam back into the night. Two of them came right past the lab, and the audio recorded when the subpods woke up from their afternoon siesta was amazing. Unfortunately, each pod encountered had at least one missing member, showing signs of a hard winter. After that we heard nothing from the Northern Residents until today. Reports came in that they are fishing off Port Hardy and could be down as soon as tonight (just in time for the full moon and, coincidentally, my nightshift). I get two nights on and two nights off because I have spent more time here than many off the others, all except Momoko.
The transients, on the contrary, seem to be running ramped through the area. Just a few days ago there was a kill near Robson Bight with the transient orca leaping full on out of the water, Dall’s porpoise in mouth. In comparison to the residents, they are extremely silent as this is their hunting technique. We have heard the odd call, but they are few and far in between. In reality, they are nothing like the symphony of acoustics that announce a resident pod’s arrival.
It has been extremely wet and rainy here, typical west coast weather. My tent has held up and kept me dry, but everything else seems soggy. However, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is nothing a good Tim Tam Slam won’t fix :). I am the only Canadian intern here, so I have become immersed in many different cultures and traditions. I am learning to bow in greeting according to the Chinese and Japanese styles, discussing Spanish marine species from the Canary Islands, brushing up on my French, learning more about British tea traditions, and trying to understand why Germans think it is so weird to have potatoes, even in the form of hashbrowns, for breakfast. Unfortunately, no one had ever heard of Tim Tams (they all love them now).
I’ve been catching fresh fish for dinner and watching in envy as the sea lions swim past with large salmon in their mouths. I don’t have the gear for going after salmon at the moment, but will try for halibut soon. The salmonoids can wait till August. Many kayakers have stopped by, most to visit the Grandmother cedar out back. It has been dated at over 1000 years old and is absolutely massive. Some wait out the strong currents of Blackney in the eddy out front, while others seem to hang around simply for the whales.
Yesterday we had a pancake party out in the camp kitchen. Like the Tim Tams, many had never tried North American style pancakes. The people here enjoy music, but don’t have instruments besides a didgeridoo (which no one can play). I have attempted, but it takes a while to get the circular breathing right. Kelp horns are in good supply and easy to make. Since I brought a guitar along, we’ve been having singing gatherings at night. Thanks to several of my friends, I have a large book of chords and lyrics for many campfire, country, old time, sea shanty, and worship songs. On that note, I must add that I am playing with a crippled guitar since a string broke (G). However, that cannot stop the music!
By now you’re probably wondering why I should chose to mention “assistant killers” in the title of this post. Simply put, it is because one of the pods that is lingering around Port Hardy is the A30’s which claim this infamous title. They will keep you up recording all night with simply one call per hour or so. The night shift is eight hours long (10pm – 6am) so one can imagine how torturous it can be when these orcas decided to vocally tease us. The resources at this lab are innumerable. They have many interesting papers on the acoustic traditions of the Northern Residents as well as other subjects concerning the seas. In some ways I feel very much as if I am at school, learning to distinguish the basic calls and their variations between each pod that comes into the area. One of my favourite is the resting call made by some G pods which sound like a strange instrument being played. You have to hear it to appreciate it! Here’s a quick lesson on the orcas’ social structure.
Community (eg. Northern Residents (NR))
Clan (eg. A or G for NR)
Pod (eg. A1, A4, A5, B1, C1, D1, H1, I1, I2, I18 are pods in the A Clan)
Subpod (eg. A36’s, A30’s, and A12’s are matrilines in the A1 pod)
Individual (1-23 whales in each matriline)
Anyways, it is time to go on shift. There is a long night ahead and the tide is flooding! That means orcas :P
Fair Winds
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