'Voyager' Finds Orcas off Rocky Point

A pod of seven orcas was spotted off the South Bay coastline on Thursday afternoon, according to observers.

The Redondo Beach-based Voyager whale-watching boat was the first to spot the orcas—commonly known as killer whales—swimming about three miles off Rocky Point on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

"A pod of about (five) orcas was spotted when a group of dolphin were seen leaping out of the water as if they were being chased by a predator. And they obviously were!" a representative of Voyager Excursions wrote on the business' Facebook page. "What an amazing sight when you see their gigantic dorsal fins sticking up so high in the air! It truly takes your breath away!"

According to researcher Alisa Schulman-Janiger, the Christopher, a whale-watching boat out of Long Beach Harbor Cruises, saw the killer whales as they headed east, and observers with the American Cetacean Society Los Angeles chapter's Gray Whale Census spotted the whales splashing after they killed a common dolphin.

"They killed a common dolphin and a harbor seal, and briefly harassed a gray whale cow/calf pair (who got away safely)," according to Schulman-Janiger. "They were last seen passing Pt. Vicente, heading down the coast (at about) 5:30 p.m., just over one mile offshore!"

Transient orcas, also known as Bigg's killer whales, are becoming a much more common—albeit still relatively rare—sight in Southern California waters.

It was not immediately clear which matriline these orcas belonged to. Schulman-Janiger is part of the California Killer Whale Project, which catalogs individual orcas based on their distinct markings. One family, known by the CA51 designation, has been spotted off the Southern California coast multiple times over the past couple of years.

Earlier this year, Schulman-Janiger surmised that the transient orcas are visiting Southern California more often because of the abundance of prey. The transient orcas eat small marine mammals and have been known to attack baby gray whales.

Southern resident orcas, which generally live in the Puget Sound off Seattle and British Columbia, eat mostly fish.

Killer whales are actually the largest member of the dolphin family. They can eat about 500 pounds—or 5 percent of their body weight—daily and swim up to 30 miles per hour.