By Pete Thomas
Freedivers off Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, spent nearly three hours Friday in the company of curious orcas.
The accompanying footage, captured by Regi Domingo of Pelagic Safari, shows one orca remaining almost totally motionless in a vertical position for several seconds while watching a diver and his camera.
Domingo said the encounter occurred five miles offshore, in the Sea of Cortez, and that the sleek mammals seemed as mesmerized as the divers were.
The company wrote on Facebook: “Believe it or not... Cabo San Lucas! An absolutely epic day on the water. Orcas in Baja are like the holy grail and yesterday we were fortunate enough to have three hours of playtime with a friendly pod.”
There were at least a dozen orcas, or killer whales, and all but one juvenile were females, Domingo said.
She added that this family unit has been spotted recently elsewhere in the Sea of Cortez, feeding on a type of rays called mobulas, as well as small sharks and humpback whale calves.
The female orcas were protective of the juvenile male, but curious of the divers.
“They were exhibiting really interesting behaviors with us,” Domingo said. “They were staying vertical, checking us out. But they were super calm.”
They would drift back, and come back in for close looks at the divers. Some would open their mouths slightly while looking at the divers in what Domingo described as “strange movements.”
On Monday, the same orca family unit was spotted off La Paz, 70 miles to the north, but the Cabo San Lucas diving community is hopeful that the iconic mammals will return.
Mobula rays, known for their spectacular leaping abilities, are found throughout the southern Sea of Cortez.
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