Why are the Orcas in San Diego?
Leopard Sharks, White Sharks, and Orcas? OH MY!
Orcas, the largest member of the dolphin family, have been making waves around San Diego and in Southern California. They first showed up in the area at the beginning of December and have been hanging around since. While their appearance is not unusual, their behaviors are new making their appearance this season even more newsworthy than before. In order to understand these behaviors and appearances it's important to understand a bit about their biology and their native ranges, as not all orcas are the same.
San Diego, with its sloping coast and deep submarine canyons that feed the area with cool, oxygen rich waters is known for its aquatic biodiversity. More than that, recreational divers and boaters report seeing numerous species that aren’t historically known to travel to latitudes that far north such as the Green Sea Turtle. So it really shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see Orcas. In 2018 reports of a group of Orcas started showing up in local news stories, and on social media. The same group of orcas made appearances in 2019 and 2021. Last year, in 2023 they showed up in July, October, and again in the winter. This family of 10 orcas showed up around the beginning of December on the 11th, just a day after an endangered fin whale washed up dead. Since then, they have been making appearances along the coast.
After regularly making their presence known in Southern California for the past 5-6 years, seeing them isn’t as shocking, but the behavior they are exhibiting during this recent trip is novel. Some of the first groups to see the orca family when they got into town were the whale watching tour companies, like Davey’s Locker in Newport Beach. In an interview with NPR, their education manager, Jessica Rodrigeuz shares some interesting observations:
“We've seen a lot of play behavior, swimming in the wake of the boat, jumping, mugging the boat, where they kind of, like, stop and turn around and look just at the boat and stare at it.”
Jessica and the whale watching tour groups aren’t the only ones who have seen interesting things during this year's visit. San Diego surf coach Jake Halstead captured an enthralling video during his Sunday morning session that went viral on social media. The video showed a few hundred surfers in the water near the pier. If you watch the video closely, you can see how orcas get their nickname of killer whales. Moving through the crowd of surfers, the orcas are chasing their meal- a pair of dolphins. The video continues to pan left showing the orcas moving further south coming what looks like just a few yards from swimmers. According to Halstead, the orcas “wanted nothing to do with the swimmers.” Want to watch the video? Check it out here on Jake’s Instagram page.
In addition to the various dolphins the orcas have been seen perusing, there have also been reports of whale deaths in Southern California that are being linked to the Orcas. In December, a beached endangered Fin whale with bites missing was attributed to the orcas. Last year a baby Grey whale was also killed by this same group of orcas.
So, what is the cause behind all these strange behaviors and appearances? To better understand some of these questions, it’s important to stand a little bit about orcas themselves, as there isn’t just one group of orcas, there are several ecotypes. There are 3 main types of orcas- Biggs or transient, Residents, and Offshore. While they might look the same to an untrained eye, there are few differences between each, namely, in their range, their dorsal fins, body size, body patterning, and food preferences.
Resident orcas groups range from California to Alaska and their prey consists mainly of fish. Transient orcas also known as Biggs orcas are found in small groups from California to the Arctic circle both offshore and near the coast and their prey is made up of marine mammals. Offshore orcas are large groups that can be found far offshore from California to Alaska and their diet primarily comes from fish.
The orcas we are seeing in San Diego are considered the Eastern Tropical Pacific family, but they don’t quite fit into any of the 3 ecotypes listed above. According to the “Killer Whales of the Eastern Tropical Pacific: A Catalog of Photo-Identified Individuals” by Paula Olson and Tim Gerrodette at NOAA, NMFS, and the SWFSC, their range “extends southwest from San Diego to Hawaii and south to Peru.” While scientists are still learning about them, we do know their diet consists of a variety of food including marine mammals like dolphins and whales we’ve seen them feeding on in Southern California in 2023 and 2024.
One thing we do know is that many of the orcas have close matriarchal bonds within their group. You may have heard the term ‘pod’ being used to describe orca groups. The J, K, and L pods commonly found in the Pacific Northwest are frequently making headlines. The group of 10 ETP (Eastern Tropical Pacific) orcas have regularly been seen in a group of 7 females and 3 young males.
Researchers suspect that the hierarchy consists of a grandmother, 2 mothers, and their calves. According to Alisa Schulman-Janiger, the lead research biologist at the California Killer Whale Project, one of the larger females is named Luna and her daughter is Cookie, for the cookie cutter shaped bite mark she has. Since this group of ETP orcas have been in town for such an extended stay, researchers have even started to notice different mannerisms of individuals, for example, Cookie has been known to bob straight up out of the water and into a belly flop.
As endearing as these young orcas are to us, they are even more cherished by their families. Orca moms will teach their young some of the basic skills as they are growing, including how to hunt. Alisa Schumann-Janiger interestingly stated that after several kills by the adults, they will disable a dolphin and allow their young to practice hunting. San Diego is proving a great location for that this year and potentially for years to come, as they will remember their successful, productive time here.
Okay, but what is so special about the 2023/2024 winter season, why so much fuss now? This is an El Niño year, meaning warmer waters in higher latitudes. Southern California is experiencing some of the warm waters that are traditionally seen further south in central Mexico. As the orcas made their way into the Southern California waters they realized there was an abundance of food. As common and Bottlenose dolphins are not accustomed to such apex predators, it’s likely that they are easy targets, making the area like an all you can eat buffet. Since the effects of El Niño are the strongest in the spring, it wouldn’t be surprising if these ETP Orcas continued to stay around.
If they do continue to stay around and you would like to chance to see them, there are some options. If you have your own boat, you can keep a lookout for them while on the water, but remember they are considered protected marine mammals and it is important to keep an appropriate, respectful distance from them. Another option you have is to sign up for a whale watching tour like the one Jessica works with at Davey’s Locker. Not only will you get an educated guide, but the operators are aware of the rules, and are usually in the know when it comes to where whales and other notable marine mammals and interesting sea life have recently been seen.