KILLER SEA PANDAS! WE FOUND THEM AGAIN!
Orcas are a very elusive species here in San Diego so, to find them multiple days in a row is just such a treat! We caught up with a small pod of four Orcas ( Killer Whales) today just off Torrey Pines coastline! They were a bit south of where they were yesterday but that’s exactly what we expected. This pod of Orcas is native to Baja Mexico and only comes north to California on rare occasions. This occasion seemed to be a slightly murdery mission – teaching the new born calf to hunt with the big kids! We were able to observe them swimming in formation and going on dives intermittently. Other boats in the area even reported seeing this pod punt dolphins 20 feet into the air! Greusome, but it’s nature! Nobody is turning orcas vegan anytime soon and if the hunt has got to happen, WE WANT TO BE THERE TO SEE IT!
We’re setting off on our last trip for the day to see if we can relocate these elusive Orcas -and there have been whispers of a dolphin pod unknowingly swimming towards some of the most deadly predators to be found at sea!
Stay tuned!
We had such a magical sunset trip! We found the same pod of ~5 Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) Orcas just a couple miles off the coast. There was a trio (mama, calf, juvenile) and then 2 larger adult orcas. They were hanging out outside of the kelp forest in La Jolla. This area also happens to be on the Grey Whale highway. We were able to spend over an hour with the ETP pod. They circled our boat and came right up to us! We did not witness a hunt, however, there was a single California sea lion hanging out around our boat. It almost seemed like it was using our boat as a means of protection from the Killer Whales. We were blessed with a beautiful slice of orange sunset, ending our amazing day on the water. A once in a lifetime experience with Orcas in San Diego.
Naturalist,
Alison & Melissa