Watch: Upside-down orca part of 'wild' encounter off Baja
Passengers aboard a San Diego-based whale-watching boat enjoyed a rare encounter with orcas during a “wild adventure” Tuesday off Mexico.
The accompanying footage shows two Eastern Tropical Pacific orcas closely approaching the 27-foot boat, and one orca turning completely upside down while passing beneath its bow.
Domenic Biagini, owner of Gone Whale Watching San Diego, wrote on Instagram: “Can you seriously imagine what it would be like to experience two wild Orcas coming right at you!?! Well this happened to us yesterday.”
Biagini explained that he was acting on a tip from a sportfishing captain about orcas near the Baja California city of Ensenada.
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This resulted in “a wild 80-mile adventure into Mexico that concluded with the holy grail of all sightings for us: Eastern Tropical Pacific Killer Whales! This is an unusually friendly group of Orcas that spent 5 hours playing with our boat, only taking a short break to hunt and kill a common dolphin!”
ETP orcas occasionally venture as far north as Southern California, but sightings are more common in Mexican waters. The killer whales are opportunistic predators whose diet includes dolphins and other marine mammals.
–Image and video courtesy of Domenic Biagini