Experts and whale watchers have been dazzled by a series of orca sightings off the southern California coast that are being described as \u201cextremely rare\u201d.<\/p>\n
A group of 10 whales \u2013 including a calf just a few months old \u2013 has been spotted for the past two weeks off the coast of southern California, between Oxnard and San Diego. Images from social media show the giant creatures leaping into the air to catch dolphins and coming within feet of boats full of eager viewers.<\/p>\n
The whales are part of the population of the eastern tropical Pacific orcas that reside off the waters of Mexico and Central America, but can also venture as far west as Hawaii. Whale watching boats typically go on high alert in the months of December and January, says Jessica Rodriguez, the education and communications manager at Newport Landing & Davey\u2019s Locker Whale Watching, but she says that catching a glimpse of so many orcas in this location is highly unusual.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re normally going to see these types of killer whales in Mexico and South America,\u201d she says. \u201cBeing able to see them off the coast of Orange county even just one time is rare, but multiple consecutive sightings over the course of two weeks is extremely rare.\u201d<\/p>\n
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