A large male killer whale, among a group of four spotted off the Palos Verdes Peninsula on Sunday was videotaped belly-bumping a motionless 19-foot boat manned by a killer whale researcher and two companions. The footage (posted below) was captured from a distance by Roger Ayala from aboard the vessel, Christopher, which was first to arrive in the vicinity of the killer whales.
This rare event occurred after the same killer whales, or orcas, had preyed on a common dolphin, and before they ate a small California sea lion.
"We were all beside ourselves; the guys on the boat were yelling. We couldn't believe what was happening," said Alisa Schulman-Janiger, who is involved in a long-term photo-identification project involving transient killer whales, and has studied these same specimens numerous times.They are most commonly seen off Monterey, Calif.
--Image shows dolphins fleeing orcas on a rainy Sunday afternoon off the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Credit Alisa Schulman-Janiger
Passengers aboard the Christopher, which runs out of Harbor Breeze Cruises in Long Beach, also got extremely up-close looks of the killer whales on a drizzly afternoon. The mammals were first spotted by volunteers with the ACS-LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project, from the Point Vicente Interpretive Center on the peninsula.
Schulman-Janiger, who was with Eric Martin and his son Cody, said the four killer whales, or orcas, are part of the CA51 matriline and included a mother (CA51), her two sons and a female calf nicknamed "Comet." All four transient killer whales swam to the boat as if curious about its inhabitants and, in fact, this group of killer whales is known for being boat friendly.
The belly-bumper is a 14-year-old male who approached the boat, turned on its side and slid gently into the vessel.
"We were not moving one iota," Schulman-Janiger said. "And this killer whale was not angry and did not smack us or anything like that. He just slid up and gently nudged the boat with his belly. I could swear they knew who we were."
Last season this matriline of seven whales (another daughter and her two offspring were absent Sunday) visited the L.A./Orange County area in September and December 2011, and in January and May of 2012.
They often brought other matrilines with them.
--Note: The same orcas appeared off Dana Point on Monday afternoon.
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