Ben and Todd were five miles out of San Diego Bay on a beautiful September day with a plan for offshore spearfishing. It’s a heavily regulated activity and California only allows the recreational type. The two were just out for a typical guy day when this happened near Point Loma.
They were on Todd’s 20′ Panga when they saw a bunch of creatures swimming about. Ben and Todd couldn’t make out what they were at first up until they started to approach the boat. It wasn’t an ordinary bunch.
It was a pod of Killer Whales.
Ben says there were about thirty of them, “young and old, small and large“. Now you may be thinking, so what? Orcas are cute. Well ,yes but… these are huge predatory mammals. Highly intelligent predatory mammals. And make no mistake about it. They are awesomely powerful creatures.
They grow up to 32 feet and can weigh in up to 6 tons. Orcas are social creatures. They communicate with each other in their pod and each member has a role given to them by unique and distinct communicative sounds.
Speed up, Todd.
The pod can be seen swimming and breaching behind the boat but as the camera angles down to the side, there’s another Killer Whale swimming right beside them, easily keeping up with the boat. Unreal.
Careful, Ben.
It sounded like he wanted to submerge his camera underwater to get a better look at the chasing Orca but he says something like he’s afraid he’d just get his arm bitten off. Smart. They slow down to almost an idle to film one of the animals lazily swimming.
Up until it starts heading towards the boat. Todd asks Ben if it’s making its way towards them to which Ben responds,
“Uh, it might be, dude. I don’t know.”
And suddenly the massive mammal was just a few feet away.
“You better go. Go! Go, go, go, go!”
The engine roars to life, this time accelerating at full speed going as fast as it will take them. The Killer Whale? It’s right under them matching the boat for speed. That’s power.
“He’s right under us, still! He’s right there!”
Are you guys intimidated yet?
The Killer Whale at full speed leaps out of the water, revealing its awesome frame while giving a mighty splash. All that while still matching the boat’s speed. They can swim up to 28-30 miles per hour but this one probably had high octane food in him because look at it!
Live in action!
Ben was finally able to lower his camera underwater to capture one of the Orcas as it swam along with Todd’s boat. It looks so peaceful beneath the waves, the cooperative carnivore gliding along before swimming up to break the surface for awhile.
Todd must be so glad his boat never had a single mechanical problem that day.
Viewers were left in awe,
“It’s impressive how something that massive can go that fast in water with almost no effort.”
Another said,
“That’s beautiful! They were just being playful. This is exactly why they belong in the ocean, and not in a bathtub in an exhibit.”
There has not been one single record of a Killer Whale attack on humans in the wild.
They are naturally curious and being social creatures, will swim up and play with visitors when given the chance. These highly social and intelligent dolphins are feared by their diverse diets, and being on top of the food chain, have been known to take out and kill sharks. You read that right.
Ben and Todd must have exchanged high fives and cold beers when they got back home that day. Where most people have to pay to see Killer Whales, these two were approached and given a high speed run by these beautiful creatures. And what a beautiful sunset to end the day.
See how these playful predators chase the boat in the video below!
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