Anglers on a Northern California charter were surprised Tuesday by curious orcas that were more than 1,000 miles south of where they’re typically sighted.
The accompanying footage, captured off Eureka by Capt. Gary Blasi of Full Throttle Sportfishing, shows two orcas approaching the boat, one of them swimming upside-down, as Blasi directs his passengers where to look.
Toward the end of the video clip, a woman peering over the rail receives a plume of orca breath to the face, leaving her startled but in awe.
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“That lady was surprised because she got sprayed in the face by the blow hole,” Blasi told For The Win Outdoors. “Her face was soaked; that’s why I was laughing so hard.”
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Blasi said orca sightings are extremely rare off Eureka, adding: “I’ve had the business here for 17 years and have never encountered that. It was pretty awesome.”
Blasi’s passengers observed four Bigg’s transient orcas that are part of a family group cataloged as the TO38s. The group consists of six orcas, or killer whales, plus a female (TO35) that often travels with the family.
At least one other boater also encountered the orcas Tuesday, and it was likely that the entire group was in the area.
According to Alaska-based researcher Emma Luck, the TO38s are the most commonly encountered family group off Juneau, Alaska.
Prior to Tuesday, the TO38s had not been documented in California, according to Alisa Schulman-Janiger of the California Killer Whale Project. (Juneau is 1,291 miles from Eureka, in a straight line.)
The last confirmed sighting, prior to Tuesday, was Aug. 9, 2019, west of Juneau.
The two orcas shown in Blasi’s video are TO38C and TO38D. TO38C is a 12-year-old orca (gender unknown) famous for the distinctive white mark on the right side of its dorsal fin. (See bottom photo.)
The orca’s older sister, TO38A, has an almost identical mark on the left side of her dorsal fin.
TO38A typically travels separately with her offspring.
–Images courtesy of Full Throttle Sportfishing