Pod of hunting orcas, calves spotted off Los Angeles coast

Whale watchers off the Palos Verdes Peninsula were treated to a rare sight on Monday when they spotted a pod of orcas.

Harbor Breeze Cruises posted photos on Facebook and said this was their first sighting of orcas in about two years.

This pod of a dozen or so orcas, which the Orange County Register reported “typically spend time off Mexico traveled up to Southern California,” also included a pair of calves when spotted on a trip that departed at noon, according to Harbor Breeze.

The marine mammals were spotted again on the 3 p.m. trip. Harbor Breeze said this time, the pod “successfully hunted some common dolphins next to the boat.”

“These are mammal-eating orcas and they were actively hunting dolphins yesterday. They ended up killing two dolphins,” said Jessica Rodriguez of Newport Coastal Adventures, another whale-watching charter that spotted the orcas.

This pod of Eastern Tropical Pacific orcas has only been spotted a few times, most recently in 2019 when they feasted on dolphins off the San Clemente coast.

Malibu is the typical northernmost point of their range, Rodriguez said.