Video: Orcas make rare appearance off Orange County coast
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When word spreads that orcas are offshore, you have to be ready to jump into action if you want to get a glimpse of the rare sighting.
Just a few dozen lucky people on Wednesday, Sept. 12, were quick enough to get up close to a pod of orcas that showed up off the coast of San Clemente, Dana Point and later, off Laguna Beach as the sun set — a treat for marine enthusiasts who wait all year for the black beauties to appear.
“They just show up, they don’t have any migration … it’s very rare in this area. We only see them every once in a while, so it’s a very special treat,” said Tiffany Eidsvold, a charter coordinator for Dana Wharf Whale Watching who jumped at the chance to hop on “Hot Spot,” a fishing boat that shot out to sea to get up close to the Eastern Tropical Pacific pod.
The pod was first spotted by Capt. Chuck Gathers aboard a Capt. Dave’s Dolphin & Whale Safari boat near San Clemente Pier, about 3 p.m. It wasn’t long before several boats were searching the sea to get a glimpse.
Newport Coastal Adventure owner Ryan Lawler had been waiting to hear about orcas in local waters after reports of sightings down in San Diego the past few days.
“We had been in alert mode for a couple days, crossing our fingers they would come up here,” Lawler said.
He believes they were the same as the ones spotted in San Diego because of the “saddle pack” behind their dorsal fins and the coloration of the orcas.
Lawler estimates there were six to eight in the pod, which he described as “super gregarious” for their outgoing behavior with the boats, at times frolicking next to the vessels and bow riding or playing in the boats’ wakes.
The ETP orcas live mostly off Mexico, in warm waters. The last time they were spotted locally was November 2017, though it’s not known if this was the same pod.
“ETPs are very rarely encountered and little is known about them. They are not part of the three recognized U.S. West Coast eco-types of killer whales which include residents, Bigg’s (transients), and offshore orcas,” according to a news release by Capt. Dave’s.
“This is their further north range in Southern California. Right now, they are definitely following the contour line of the coast,” Lawler said late Wednesday, as the pod headed north. “You never know when they will decide to make a turn again.”
Aboard the “Hot Spot,” Dana Wharf manager Donna Kalez scanned the sea Wednesday afternoon until several spouts of misty water shot to the sky, showing where the pod was hanging out near other boats, about three miles off the Dana Point coast.
“We freak out,” she said of the reaction when orcas make an appearance. “We get so excited.”
Kalez gasped, Wednesday, as a large male killer whale with a massive dorsal fin pointing to the sky breached the ocean’s surface, and she pointed out a small calf in the mix.
Dan Brown, who operates Dana Wharf’s “Hot Spot” with his son Nick, has been on the water 60 years. He’s seen orcas several times in Washington and Seattle — but locally, only twice.
“It’s awesome. I wouldn’t trade it for anything else,” he said of his experience Wednesday. “You never know. You wake up, it can be an epic day, or you get nothing.”
Steve Burkhalter, captain of the OCean Adventures operated by Dana Wharf, got to see Mother Nature up close as the orcas chased after a pod of dolphins to feed.
“There was a female that had one in its mouth. … All the dolphins spread out and started stampeding,” he said. “That was the trip of a lifetime, for me, and I get to be on the water all the time.”