Whale watchers off the coast of San Diego had an incredibly lucky sighting of a pod of killer whales – and the orcas even surprised them with a special rainbow gift.
It “was a whirlwind,” says Gone Whale Watching San Diego’s Captain Domenic Biagini. Some of the team had spent the day exploring the waters looking for new hot spots to add to their tours. Late summer “is when we usually have our best weather and sea conditions,” he says.
Their wildlife sightings included lots of black-footed albatross – which “are often a harbinger of larger predators being around, like false killer whales, sharks and especially orcas,” says Domenic – and a large predatory shark taking down a common dolphin. It was “possibly a great white or a mako,” he says. “We’re still checking with experts.”
Just as they’d returned home, a friend called them to let them know there was a pod of orcas about 20 miles away from them.
“Reports of these rare visitors are often a wild game of telephone,” Domenic says. They checked with some local sportfishing boats, who had also seen the killer whales, so they raced out to find the pod.
They searched for a few more hours before discovering the pod close to border between the USA and Mexico. There, they “were treated to an absolutely gorgeous sunset as we watched them swim slowly to the south,” Captain Dom says.
“As if seeing this beautiful animal in the wild wasn’t enough,” he adds, “it also gifted us with a beautiful rainbow”.
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