Video captures return of killer whales to Southern California

For the first time in months, a pod of killer whales was spotted in the waters off Los Angeles.

Whale-watching tour operators in Long Beach and Newport Beach shared footage of a pod of five Eastern Tropical Pacific orcas that migrated up the coast from Mexico and were observed in the waters off Orange County and Los Angeles County.

Harbor Breeze Cruises shared drone footage recorded Monday by Mauricio Tassara (IG: @empty_drone) with KTLA. The killer whales are believed to be feasting on the abundance of dolphins and whales in SoCal’s waters.

The video was taken Monday around noon as the tour began in Long Beach. It captured the killer orcas in the area for the first time since earlier in the year. You can also see a rare white killer whale, named Frosty. The orca is white due to a pigmentation issue.

“This is the first time since late January we have seen these amazing whales off the coast during one of our tours and the fourteenth time total since December,” said Harbor Breeze C.O.O. Jeff Forney. “The Orcas put on a wonderful show for the passengers.”

The orcas were spotted a little further down the coast in Newport a short time later by Newport Coastal Adventure.

On several occasions over the past month, killer whales have been spotted by whale-watching tours in San Diego. They were assumed to be headed home to Mexico, but they swam back north again.

While they are often called “killer whales,” orcas are not whales but rather the largest member of the dolphin family. The Eastern Tropical Pacific, or ETP, orcas’ choice of prey, being fellow dolphins and whales, makes them unique from other ecotypes sometimes spotted along SoCal’s coast.

According to experts, ETPs were last seen in California in 2021 and, before that, in 2018.

For tours: Harbor Breeze (Long Beach), Newport Landing (Newport Beach)

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