![]() They don’t know the reason they came this far, but it could be because the population has grown and they needed to look farther than usual for food because of competition, Black said.Īnother thing that Black found unusual about these whales was their location. Using photos from multiple boats, Black and her colleagues were able to identify the ones that visited Monterey Bay on Monday with their scientific names: 30-year-old matriarch T065B, her 12-year-old son, T065B1, 4-year-old son, T065B2, and a calf T065B3 that is less than a year old.īlack said she learned from Canadian researchers that the family was last seen in the Salish Sea off the coast of Vancouver Island 13 days before, and that the farthest south this family had been seen previously was Oregon. Black recalls seeing orcas from British Columbia only a handful of times in the three decades she has studied the animals in California, while California orcas go to Canadian waters more often. The killer whales from British Columbia are part of the same ecotype as the Monterey Bay whales, called Bigg’s or transient orcas. But those whales were regulars in California and the Monterey Bay who feed on baby gray whales this time of year. The sighting followed another unusual encounter with killer whales last month near the Farallon Islands, west of San Francisco, when a tour boat from San Francisco’s Oceanic Society saw an abnormally large group of 24 orcas. Video: Courtesy Evan Brodsky/ Monterey Bay Whale Watch (Warning: graphic content) A family of four killer whales that traveled to California from British Columbia, Canada, was seen in Monterey Bay on Jhunting a sea lion and then celebrating afterward. She has studied killer whales for over 30 years. “We’ve never seen them here before,” said Nancy Black, a marine biologist with the whale-watching outfit Monterey Bay Whale Watch and the nonprofit California Killer Whale Project. ![]() Courtesy of Daniel Bianchetta/Monterey Bay Whale Watch Show More Show LessĪ family of killer whales from British Columbia was seen off the California coast for the first time Monday, when they were captured on video killing a sea lion and then leaping out of the water and slapping their tails on the water in celebration. Courtesy of Daniel Bianchetta/Monterey Bay Whale Watch Show More Show Less 2 of2Ī killer whale that traveled to California from British Columbia is seen in Monterey Bay between Moss Landing and Monterey Harbor on Monday. Both animals pictured are part of a family of killer whales that traveled to California from British Columbia and were spotted Monday in Monterey Bay between Moss Landing and Monterey Harbor. A young killer whale is seen “spy hopping,” or putting its head upright in the water - a celebratory move after a hunt.
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