Boaters witness ‘unbelievable spectacle’ when predators attack sea creature. See it
Domenic Biagini was aboard a whale watching tour operated by his company off the coast of San Diego when another company alerted him to the presence of orcas nearby.
Due to foggy conditions, the Eastern Tropical Pacific Killer Whales “were lost for about an hour,” Biagini told McClatchy News in an email. That is until another one of his company’s boats found them — and the whale watchers got front-row seats to a harrowing attack.
An “unbelievable spectacle” unfolded as the orcas approached a small pod of Offshore Bottlenose dolphins, according to an Oct. 7 Instagram post from Biagini. A video shows the moment one of the orcas targeted an adult dolphin.
“This group of 8 orcas blitzed a small pod of Offshore Bottlenose dolphins before zeroing in on this chunky adult,” Biagini wrote. “In a move I’ve never seen, the adult dolphin leaped into the air to avoid its pursers! In the end though, orcas can jump too…”
Biagini said Eastern Tropical Pacific Killer Whales are “rarely seen” north of San Diego waters and are only seen a few times during the late summer and fall that far north.
“Usually when these orcas come here it is to hunt dolphins,” Biagini said in his email. “Southern California has arguably the most dolphins in the world by some metrics, so it’s not surprising to have witnessed a hunt. In fact, I’ve personally encountered this group of orcas nine times, and all but once they killed and ate a dolphin before heading back into Mexican waters.“
Bottlenose dolphins typically grow to between 300 to 1,400 pounds and between 6 feet and 13 feet long, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.
Social media users shared their shock at the encounter.
“Amazing footage,” one person wrote. “The circle of life is brutal and sad in the wild.”
“It’s always such a conflict of emotions seeing animals hunt each other. I’m glad the predator gets to eat but so sad for the prey who dies,” another commenter said.
“I thought it was going to be a cute dolphin video,” a third person wrote. “And then I saw the orca.”
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