In a rare return to the Southern California coast, a beloved family of orcas made a few star appearances for whale watchers on Friday.
Lucky viewers got to witness a visit from a mother killer whale and three of her offspring around 9 a.m. off Laguna Beach and then again in the afternoon in Newport Beach, according to Davey’s Locker Whale Watching.
A company representative said this particular pod of orcas is well known among California whale-watching enthusiasts as the CA51 pod is “a family of orcas with a reputation for their playful nature interacting with boats.”
Footage from Friday’s sightings shows Star, the mother, who is about 40 years old, her two sons Orion and Bumper – Bumper is purportedly known for his 6-foot tall dorsal fin and playful behavior around boats – and Star’s daughter, Comet.
These killer whales were last seen on Dec. 15 about 17 miles off the Orange County coast, according to Davey’s Locker Whale Watching, but, before then, the CA51 pod hadn’t been seen locally in around six years.
Experts said the members of this family are also referred to as ‘transient’ orcas, meaning they cover a large range between southeast Alaska to the Mexico border.
“Lucky passengers aboard our whale watching boats were thrilled to see this family of orcas again today, as they used to be one of the most frequently-sighted killer whale pods in Southern California between 2012-2018, but now, we don’t encounter them much at all,” said a company representative in a release.
Although a clear reason for their change of routine is not yet known, experts said the pod’s diet leads them to wherever seals and sea lions are plentiful.
