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Posted on 10/27/2026 2:22:52 PM PDT by BenLurkin
A group of 13 killer whales gave passengers aboard a Southern California whale watching boat an unforgettable experience over the weekend, swimming directly up to the vessel in a rare close encounter.
The orcas were spotted Saturday, Oct. 24, by a crew with Capt. Dave’s Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari, based in Dana Point...
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The whales exhibited a behavior known as “mugging,” which occurs when whales or dolphins voluntarily approach a boat and linger nearby, sometimes circling the vessel or appearing to investigate it.
Despite the name, the behavior is not considered aggressive.
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The whales belong to the Eastern Tropical Pacific population of orcas, a relatively little-understood group whose movements, social structures and ecology remain the subject of ongoing scientific research.
According to Capt. Dave’s, three different pods of Eastern Tropical Pacific orcas have recently been documented traveling along the Southern California coastline.
The latest group appeared to be different from the whales observed during previous encounters over the past month and even the past two years, the crew said.
(Excerpt) Read more at ktla.com ...
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Orca schadenfreude.
They are huge DOLPHINS....NOT WHALES.
Very cool and kind of scary...
A mugging? How much money did the whale watchers have to give them?
Ref: Castro, J., A. Cid, M. P. Martins, G. Estrela, A. Pieters, and A. Quirin. 2026. "Insights Into a Disruptive Behavior of Iberian Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) With Boats: Perspective From Multiple Interactions With a Research Vessel." Marine Mammal Science 42(4): e70247.
They could mean it in the sense of ‘mugging’ for the camera...
KILLER Whales
Not friendly, fun loving whales.
They’re called that because they eat other mammals, including other whales.
‘Killer whales’ are actually dolphins.
More properly they are both among the toothed whales (odontocetes).
By far, my favorite animal in the entire world. We only know a small fraction of their intelligence and social capabilities.
I think we know very little of the truth about animals in general, but especially the big brained ones.
maybe they’ve learned that panicked passengers might fall overboard-
They probably thought the boat was their Door Dash order.
They could have just been very interested about a new *thing* in their environment. They’re intelligent and curious.
Hmm...What would it take for Orcas to thrive in the Channel?
They better hope these orcas don’t do the latest fad among orca pods-—sink ships.
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