Endangered killer whales spotted in Monterey Bay

A rare pod of killer whales has been spotted in the Monterey Bay for the first time in nearly a decade.

The southern resident killer whale is normally found in the waters of the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. Rarely is the species found in California.

On Sunday, Discovery Whale Watch and Marine Life Studies spotted a pod of the endangered killer whale in the Monterey Bay.

It’s only the fourth time this whale has been recorded in Monterey Bay.

“In the distance, I saw these little puffy blows, and I said, ‘Hey, look at that. They almost look like killer whale blows,'” Director of Marine Life Studies Peggy Stap said. “Then we saw the dorsal fins, and it wasn’t long when he said, ‘They’re the resident killer whales the L pod.'”

These killer whales are normally found in the Pacific Northwest because they feed on chinook salmon but their population is diminishing possibly because of a lack of food.

“They’re highly endangered, so maybe coming down here was a way for them to look for prey,” research coordinator with Marine Life Studies Josh McInnes said.

McInnes has been researching the SRKW for more than a decade. There is a slight but distinct marking that helped him identify the orcas Sunday.

“You can see that finger, that open saddle patch,” McInnes said. “It’s got a particular pattern, and also the dorsal fin has a little bit of a weird angle.”

With only 73 of these killer whales left in the world, keeping a close eye on them is very important.

“By monitoring them and figuring out how the population is doing, we can figure out how to protect them,” McInnes said.

Part of the reason it’s hard to spot the SRKW in the Monterye Bay is that the weather has to be perfect to get a boat far offshore.

“Out here, you’re in the open ocean. It’s the open Pacific all the way to Hawaii,” McInnes said.

One of the most exciting findings was a 2-month-old calf that was spotted gliding alongside its mother.

“The new calf is the newest member of the southern residents. A lot of calfs have died in the last few years.”

Researchers could tell the whales were coming from the south, but it’s still a mystery how far down the California Coast they traveled.

Marine Life Studies will post more of it findings on its Facebook page and website.