Orcas Are Back: Spotted In Morning Fog Off Dana Point

DANA POINT, CA — A whale-watching vessel, with 30 passengers on board, encountered a wild Orca pod Thursday midday during a foggy trek out to sea.

Six Orca, also known as Killer Whales, were spotted in the area between Dana Point and Laguna Beach. They hung out near the Dana Wharf Whale Watching vessel, the Dana Pride to the delight of onlookers.

The half-dozen whales have not visited the coast of southern Orange County since Sept. 2019, a spokesperson for Dana Wharf Whale Watching tells Patch.

Veteran Captain Tommy White, a ship captain with 45 years of experience, was at the helm of the 95-foot vessel at the time of the sighting.

"The crew and the passengers originally thought that the pod they were seeing were bottlenose dolphins," White said of the sighting. "Orcas are mistaken for bottlenose dolphins all the time. We did not expect to see them today!

Once closer, White realized what they were and instantly called other boats to help keep track of them.

White and other area whale watching captains are waiting for expert Alisa Schulman-Janiger to ID these Orcas, he says.

"Orcas have many different populations with several distinct ecotypes or species," White said. Schulman-Janiger will determine exactly what species they encountered on the Thursday trip.

As for the passengers? White says that their excitement was contagious.

"(The passengers) were so excited to see them in the wild so beautiful and free!"