ETP orcas – Syndication Server

Exotic orcas ambush dolphins off San Diego in striking new footage

Footage shows killer whales from Mexico cooperating as a unit to catch and kill faster, more agile dolphins.

The owner of a San Diego whale-watching company this week shared extraordinary footage showing Eastern Tropical Pacific killer whales preying on dolphins during recent visits from Mexico.

The footage posted below, narrated by Domenic Biagini of Gone Whale Watching San Diego, reveals the graphic manner by which the orcas single out dolphins to kill and share with one another “just as we would at a family dinner.” (Viewer discretion is advised.)

The ETP orcas are more commonly encountered in the Sea of Cortez and elsewhere off Mexico. Their seasonal dolphin-hunting forays into Southern California, however, are becoming legendary.

MORE ORCAS: Watch an orca perform a “headstand” during San Diego sighting

The footage, captured over the past three weeks, opens with a humpback whale and massive fin whale lunge-feeding on anchovies, alongside hundreds of dolphins.

Then come the orcas in a segment that shows one orca blasting a dolphin airborne as the orca also soars perhaps 20 feet high. (Click here if video player does not appear below.)

More complex hunting behavior is revealed via drone footage as Biagini explains: “To overcome the dolphin’s superior speed and agility, the orcas work together as a coordinated unit.”

There’s a kill and a shared meal before a segment that shows a massive dolphin stampede preceding another successful hunt.

Dolphins stampede to escape orcas. Photo: Gone Whale Watching San Diego

“The orcas know that they can’t rely on speed alone to catch the dolphins,” Biagini explains. “But they can use the panic to their advantage, and in the chaos it’s unclear if [the dolphins] even realize what direction is safety and what direction is danger.”

Biagini describes the stampede-and-chase phenomenon as “one of the greatest natural spectacles on earth,” and those who view his footage might be inclined to agree.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=421396721]

Watch: Orca performs ‘headstand’ during rare San Diego sighting

The Eastern Tropical Pacific killer whales, more commonly spotted off Mexico, are famously boat friendly.

When Eastern Tropical Pacific killer whales visit San Diego waters via Mexico, it’s always exciting for observers.

For starters, the ETPs visit primarily to hunt common dolphins. These predation events, while deadly for dolphins, are acrobatic spectacles that showcase the orcas’ skills as cunning, top-level predators.

But also, ETP orcas are famously boat friendly and seemingly curious about their human admirers.

The accompanying footage, captured Dec. 4 by Capt. Erica Sackrison and deckhand Jess Aubry of Gone Whale Watching San Diego, shows an orca thrilling passengers by performing a “headstand” just feet beyond the vessel’s bow.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDOP0o5JH7v/

“He’s upside down!” one passenger exclaims in the footage, moments before the mammal raises its tail section above water.

Gone Whale Watching San Diego via Instagram:

“Christmas came early for the Gone Whale Watching family yesterday when a few members of the same pod of ETP Killer Whales made yet another memorable visit to San Diego!

“The notoriously boat-friendly orcas constantly interacted with our boats, making it clear they wanted ATTENTION! Us meager whale watchers were only too willing to oblige!”

ETP killer whale sightings off Southern California are rare, but this time of year is when most sightings occur.

Gone Whale Watching San Diego has logged three sightings involving members of the same orca pod over the past three weeks, and is hopeful for more encounters:

“While it is utterly impossible to predict when we’ll see them again, a string of recent sightings can only be taken as a positive omen!”

Watch: Orca launches 20 feet high while pursuing prey off San Diego

Footage from the rare encounter shows the orca “channeling his inner Top Gun” with an acrobatic assault on a common dolphin.

Boaters off San Diego on Saturday witnessed a rarely seen spectacle involving killer whales, or orcas, that are more commonly encountered much farther south in Mexico.

“Who needs SeaWorld when the greatest Orca show in the world is in the WILD!” Domenic Biagini, owner of Gone Whale Watching San Diego, exclaimed via Instagram.

The accompanying footage, captured by the company’s Erica Sackrison, shows one orca ambushing a dolphin from below, sending the stunned mammal flying while launching at least 20 feet above the surface.

MORE: Orca bats seal 70 feet skyward

The Eastern Tropical Pacific orcas only show up a few times a year off San Diego and it’s almost always to hunt common dolphins, which are abundant off Southern California.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DCwdOo2PFTp/

Biagini explained that the day’s excitement began with the sighting of a surface-feeding humpback whale and hundreds of dolphins.

Then, in the distance, dolphins began to stampede in a panic. A crewman noticed a splash from a larger mammal, indicating that a killer whale hunting party was present.

“Our initial thought was that a Humpback had done something surface active; when suddenly the unmistakeable shape of a Killer Whale exploded into the air!” Biagini wrote.

The orca in the footage is a previous visitor nicknamed Top Notch, because of distinctive markings. Biagini joked that Top Notch was “channeling his inner ‘Top Gun’ by rocketing 20-plus feet into the air in pursuit of a common dolphin breakfast.”

The orcas were not encountered Sunday.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=421396721]

Rare orca encounter off San Diego includes ‘rainblow’ surprise

Footage shows one of the killer whales swimming to within feet of the boat and greeting passengers with a “rainblow.”

A rare orca encounter Wednesday off San Diego was made extra special when one of the mammals swam to the boat and provided an enchanting moment.

“As if seeing this beautiful animal in the wild wasn’t enough, it also gifted us with a beautiful rainbow!” Domenic Biagini, owner of Gone Whale Watching San Diego, exclaimed via Instagram.

The accompanying footage shows the orca’s close approach – and features Biagini’s exuberant narration – and its “rainblow” greeting.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C_Qd676JbeC/

Biagini and crew, acting on tips from nature and local sportfishing captains, located more than 10 Eastern Tropical Pacific killer whales, or orcas, near the U.S.-Mexico border.

ETP orcas are commonly encountered in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez but occasionally venture into U.S. waters to hunt dolphins and other marine mammals.

Biagini explained the tip he received from seabirds:

“Our initial exploration found a lot of interesting wildlife, but what stood out to us the most was the number of Black-Footed Albatross we were seeing much closer to shore than usual.

“Those Albatross are often a harbinger of larger predators being around like False Killer Whales, sharks, and especially Orcas!”

Biagini promised “more to come from this incredible day” as the ETP watch is in full swing after the encounter.

The orcas were headed south as Biagini returned to port, but that does not mean that they will not resurface off San Diego or elsewhere in Southern California in the coming days.

Watch: SoCal captain immortalizes rare orca encounter with selfie

Several killer whales from Mexico and points south were spotted off Los Angeles County on Monday, attracting crowds of whale watchers.

Several orcas from Mexico were spotted off Los Angeles County on Monday, attracting crowds of whale watchers.

The Eastern Tropical Pacific killer whales (ETPs) were hunting dolphins but became extremely boat friendly at times, riding wakes and interacting with passengers.

One prominent captain, Ryan Lawler of Newport Coastal Adventure and Pacific Offshore Expeditions, capitalized on a rare opportunity to capture a video selfie with one of the mammals. (Footage posted below.)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ryan L (@lawofthelandnsea)

Alisa Schulman-Janiger of the California Killer Whale Project was with Lawler and said about a dozen orcas were present, traveling in sub-groups. They included two small calves.

“They mugged every boat,” Schulman-Janiger said, referring to the friendly behavior. (Video below shows mugging behavior.)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @newportcoastaladventure

Passengers watched the ETPs ram and kill a large bottlenose dolphin, an adult common dolphin, and a common dolphin calf.

The sighting initial sighting was logged at 8:30 a.m. in the Catalina Channel, seven miles off San Pedro, by Catalina Express Capt. Mike Jackson.

News quickly spread and vessel operators hurried to locate the gregarious mammals.

ETP orcas, which are fairly common in the Sea of Cortez and elsewhere in Mexico, rarely visit Southern California. But when they do it becomes a major event for marine mammal enthusiasts.

Schulman-Janiger said the ETPs were last spotted Monday evening seven miles off Lunada Bay, at the southern edge of Santa Monica Bay.

Watch: Orcas dazzle boaters during ‘magical’ rare encounter

A whale-watching charter out of San Diego on Tuesday spent “five magical hours” with orcas that surfed, leaped, and even swam upside down within feet of passengers and crew.

The extraordinary footage, captured by Gone Whale Watching San Diego, shows Eastern Tropical Pacific killer whales, or orcas, clearly interacting with those aboard the 27-foot Boston Whaler.

“All in all this was one of the best trips in our company’s history,” Domenic Biagini, owner of Gone Whale Watching San Diego, wrote on Facebook.

Acting on a tip from a sportfishing captain, Biagini traveled 80 miles south of San Diego, into Mexican waters, in search of the ETP killer whales.

ALSO ON FTW OUTDOORS: Florida angler lands incredibly rare ‘tortilla fish’

He first located beaked whales, and footage of that rare encounter is forthcoming. Biagini and crew spotted the orcas on the way back up the coast, about 50 miles south of San Diego.

ETP orcas, which are spotted sporadically off Mexico and in the Sea of Cortez, are famously inquisitive around boats and have been known to surf in their wakes.

Biagini’s passengers were treated to this behavior but also observed the grace and beauty of the mammals as they slowly swam beneath and next to the boat, at times completely upside down.

Passengers also witnessed a predation event (the jumping portion of the video) involving a common dolphin that ultimately became an orca snack.

“The orcas toyed with this common dolphin for nearly 90 minutes before finally completing the kill and sharing in a meal,” Biagini explained on Facebook. “It very well may have been a teaching moment for the youngsters in this pod. They’ll have to complete hunts themselves one day!”

The footage was captured by Biagini, Kyle Henderson, and Alyson Moors.

Biagini assured that his engines were not running during the orcas’ close approaches, and that the orcas were “play-chasing us,” and not the other way around, when the boat was in motion.

Watch: Orca’s dramatic leap leaves boaters in awe

Boaters in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez were amazed Sunday as an orca leaped 15 feet clear of the surface while attacking a dolphin.

Boaters in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez were astonished Sunday as an orca leaped 15 feet clear of the surface while attacking a bottlenose dolphin.

The accompanying footage, captured by Miguel Cuevas of Cabo Pulmo Divers, shows the orca launching itself and the dolphin as the orca rammed the smaller mammal during a high-speed vertical charge. (Best viewed with sound.)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CO80C_0AiJi/

The predation event at Cabo Pulmo, a dive spot north of Cabo San Lucas, occurred after several boats had gathered to view an orca pod as it hunted dolphins.

Cabo Pulmo Divers described the great leap as an “amazing moment” on Facebook.

Orca slams dolphin at the surface. Photo: Miguel Cuevas

Researchers who had seen the video tried late Sunday to obtain more information about the encounter and to determine whether any males accompanied the pod.

They noted that another Instagram post contains underwater footage – viewers must swipe to the third clip – of the orcas’ dolphin pursuit. (See post below.)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CO9LlMrlWYX/

Cuevas told For The Win Outdoors that he counted “at least 10 orcas,” all females, and that the predation event, although it involved just the one kill, lasted several hours.

He estimated the height of the leap to be “four to five meters.”

Eastern Tropical Pacific orcas, or killer whales, prey largely on marine mammals and mobula rays, which are abundant in the gulf. The orcas are known to express curiosity toward boaters and to occasionally surf in vessels’ wakes.

On April 20, farther north in Bahia de los Angeles, several orcas from a pod of 12, including a young calf, swam so closely to a panga that one of its passengers later recalled, “I laughed and cried and was in utter disbelief.”

–Images courtesy of Miguel Cuevas/Cabo Pulmo Divers

Astonished paddlers suddenly amid orca ‘feeding frenzy’

A group of paddlers off La Paz, Mexico, recently found themselves surrounded by orcas as the mammals feasted on schooling mobula rays.

“The whole thing was absolutely powerful, magical, and oh so lucky,” Sergio Garcia, owner of Baja SUP, told For The Win Outdoors. “We felt grateful to have been there at exactly the right moment and place to share that experience.”

Garcia, 39, on Thursday provided a summary of the late January encounter involving at least five Eastern Tropical Pacific killer whales, or orcas.

He was on SUP board and two others, Terri Lynn and Rene Potvin, were on kayaks. Lynn and Potvin had been freediving and spearfishing from their kayaks before the orca sighting off Playa El Coyote in the Sea of Cortez, just north of La Paz.

The encounter began after Garcia saw a large splash behind Lynn as the group prepared to paddle back to the beach.

“Assuming that this encounter was going to last only a few moments as the orcas cruised by, Sergio and Terri Lynn paddled quickly to follow behind the orcas and soak up every glimpse,” the summary reads. “Then, to their surprise, they realised that the pod wasn’t actually leaving! They were corralling a group of mobula rays – it was a feeding frenzy!”

Garcia said the paddlers tried to keep a responsible distance but that became impossible as the mobula rays rushed toward the paddlers while trying to escape the orcas, bringing the orcas to the paddlers.

“The orcas used bubble curtains and swam tight circles to keep the rays together and at the surface, and picked one off every once in a while,” the summary reads. “Rene saw a half-bitten ray floating by shortly after the feeding ended.

“The whales fed for about 10 minutes, then, apparently satiated, let the remaining rays go and turned their full attention to us.”

The orcas made repeated passes in what seemed expressions of curiosity, and remained with the paddlers for another 10 minutes before disappearing to the south.

One of the females in the pod, identifiable by a deep notch at the base of her dorsal fin, has been spotted elsewhere in Mexico and was once documented preying on a sunfish off the Mexican state of Michoacan.

Eastern Tropical Pacific killer whales are encountered sporadically and have been spotted as far north as Southern California.