Watch Playful Killer Whales On The Newport Beach Coast

NEWPORT BEACH, CA — A pod of orcas normally found in warmer waters off Mexico have been hanging around in Orange County in the last week and were spotted in Newport Beach on Sunday, Dec. 17.

"We were tipped off to an orca sighting yesterday by the Catalina Express out of Long Beach," Jessica Rodriguez, education manager for Newport Landing & Davey's Locker Whale Watching, told Patch. "Boats with Newport Coastal Adventure in Orange County decided to take all available boats out. We rushed to their last known location and got extremely lucky."

The Eastern Tropical Pacific orcas were initially spotted on Dec. 11 in Palos Verdes and in the same area throughout the week, Rodriguez said. The orcas were seen playfully approaching boats and hunting dolphins.

"During their encounter, Newport Coastal Adventure boats watched this pod of killer whales prey on one bottlenose dolphin and two common dolphins," Rodriguez said. "The boats and their lucky whale watching passengers watched in awe over the next two-and-a-half hours as the killer whales traveled up the coastline until the sun set. They even made a few close passes under our boat!"