While many families spent Thanksgiving watching football in their living rooms, a lucky few spent it watching orcas launch a sea lion 20 feet into the air in Monterey Bay.
About 120 people on board a Whale Watching in Monterey Bay boat Thanksgiving morning witnessed a rare sighting of a pod of orcas hunting sea lions in the bay. Within minutes of the encounter, a whale launched a sea lion nearly 20 feet into the air, a common hunting tactic used by orcas to slow and exhaust their prey, said marine biologist Colleen Talty.
Although many people on the boat were excited to see the orcas, some expressed concern for the sea lions' well-being, according to a photographer on the boat who called the scene “bittersweet” but a necessary part of nature.
“Of course you feel bad for the sea lion, but you have to remember that it's nature and without the sea lions, the pride wouldn't survive without food,” said photographer Morgan Quimby.
Talty, who has seen a punting sea lion “multiple times” in his six years working at Monterey Bay Whale Watch, said witnessing a moment like that is pretty rare.
“You have to be in the right place at the right time,” Talty said. “You could even start the hunt when they've already hit the sea lion, because a lot of times that's done at the beginning of the hunt, when they're first trying to wear down the sea lion, separate it if it's in a group.”
Based on the behavior of the four whales, Talty said it was a training session for the new calf in the group that was learning to hunt with its mother, grandmother and aunt.
“Once they successfully killed a sea lion, group members took turns displaying attack maneuvers and behaviors to further instruct their new group member on how to hunt,” Monterey Bay Whale Watch said Friday. Facebook.
Monterey Bay Whale Watch has seen this particular family of orcas, known as CA51A, in the bay for more than 30 years and in four generations of whales, Talty said.
An orca throws a sea lion nearly 20 feet into the air, a common hunting tactic used by orcas to slow and exhaust their prey.
(Photography by Morgan Quimby)
Quimby was on the boat Thursday morning and caught the rare sighting on camera. The whales' erratic movements made it difficult for him to photograph them, so he decided to focus his lens on one of four or five different groups of sea lions in the water. The pod of sea lions he had his camera focused on turned out to be the one the orcas were chasing.
“Whenever there are orcas in the area, I'm constantly on the go, following them, following them with my camera, trying to make sure I don't miss any shots or any of their behaviors,” she said.
The hunting session began around 10:30 a.m. and lasted nearly two hours before the whales' movements slowed and they finished feasting, Quimby said.
“They are so intelligent and motivated by their family, that being able to watch them teach this several-month-old calf how to hunt and how to survive is such a special and intimate moment that we were lucky enough to witness,” he said. saying.
