Warm-Water Orca Pods Spotted Hunting Off Southern California Coastline
“This is the first time I’ve seen this pod and they sure were amazing to see, very friendly toward boats as long as they were given respect,” said Mark Girardeau, a photographer for Newport Coastal Adventure. Over the weekend of October 24 and 25, 2026, three distinct pods of Eastern Tropical Pacific orcas moved along the Southern California coastline from Palos Verdes down to San Diego, hunting local marine mammals in waters typically far too cool for their species, ocregister.com reported.
Three Pods of Warm-Water Orcas Appear off Southern California
The unusual weekend arrivals brought rare marine life into heavy view for coastal charter passengers and researchers alike. On Saturday morning, Oct. 24, Newport Coastal Adventures crews encountered a pod of roughly 15 to 20 killer whales about a mile off Laguna Beach. Among them was Cuitláhuac, a large male estimated to be more than 60 years old who is ordinarily found in the warmer waters of the Gulf of California. Girardeau noted that the pod showed active interest in hunting local dolphins while remaining calm around vessels.
Alisa Schulman-Janiger, co-founder of the California Killer Whale Project, identified the same group as large whale predation specialists. According to her records, this pod had killed a young fin whale off San Diego and was also documented taking a large fin whale off Point Loma in San Diego County earlier in the month. Schulman-Janiger described the concentration of sightings as an incredible opportunity for researchers to study and catalog the rarely encountered Eastern Tropical Pacific orcas.
On Sunday, Oct. 25, a separate pod appeared in the Palos Verdes area, passing Point Vicente heading south toward San Pedro and Long Beach, according to Alex Cobb, spokesperson for Harbor Breeze Cruises. Passengers aboard a 4:30 p.m. charter witnessed the orcas ambush a pod of common dolphins. The mammals fled in a stampede before the orcas successfully separated and wounded their targets. The pod included familiar individuals cataloged since 2018, featuring two mothers named Luna and Ana with calves born earlier that year, alongside a juvenile male named Deigo and a teenager named Terso.
El Niño Conditions and Offshore Temperatures Keep Orcas Near the Coast
The persistent presence of these tropical pods stems from abnormally warm ocean conditions lingering along the coast. Girardeau pointed to regional warmth keeping offshore water temperatures near 72 degrees, driving the marine mammals northward and encouraging them to linger rather than quickly passing through.
