A pod of Orcas feed off Dana Point (Courtesy: DolphinSafari.com / June 1, 2010) |
DANA POINT -- A pod of Orcas, better known as killer whales, has been spotted Tuesday off the coast of Orange County, dining on the carcass of a large sea lion.
According to whale watching experts, the encounter with the pod was a rare one. It has been two years since killer whales have been sighted off the Orange County coast. The killer whales are actually the largest of the dolphin species. They are one of the ocean's strongest predators, feeding on fish, seals and even other whales.
The pod of about seven killer whales -- two of them calves-- had killed a huge sea lion and were tossing it around with their tails, showing the youngsters how to eat it.
"We just had the most amazing show I've ever seen," said Dave Anderson of Capt. Dave's Dolphin and Whale Safari. "It was incredible. In all my years of watching killer whales, I've never actually seen them go after a mammal. This was kind of a first."
Earlier Tuesday, fishermen off the coast of Ventura reported an encounter with a female killer whale. The fishermen had video of the Orca circling their boat and even swimming up-side-down and rubbing the keel.
The boat was not damaged nor were the fishermen injured.
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Watch video of the Orcas at http://www.whalewatchingtv.com/
According to whale watching experts, the encounter with the pod was a rare one. It has been two years since killer whales have been sighted off the Orange County coast. The killer whales are actually the largest of the dolphin species. They are one of the ocean's strongest predators, feeding on fish, seals and even other whales.
The pod of about seven killer whales -- two of them calves-- had killed a huge sea lion and were tossing it around with their tails, showing the youngsters how to eat it.
"We just had the most amazing show I've ever seen," said Dave Anderson of Capt. Dave's Dolphin and Whale Safari. "It was incredible. In all my years of watching killer whales, I've never actually seen them go after a mammal. This was kind of a first."
Earlier Tuesday, fishermen off the coast of Ventura reported an encounter with a female killer whale. The fishermen had video of the Orca circling their boat and even swimming up-side-down and rubbing the keel.
The boat was not damaged nor were the fishermen injured.
----
Watch video of the Orcas at http://www.whalewatchingtv.com/
