Out on the WaterThursday, November 5
About 70 pilot whales showed up off Newport Beach for the first local sighting since 2015
The 5AM Orange team
Whale watchers with Davey's Locker & Newport Landing Whale Watching were five miles off Newport Beach on Tuesday when Captain Erica Page spotted a large pod of approximately 70 short-finned pilot whales.
The pod by the numbers
- 70
- short-finned pilot whales in the pod, approximately
- 5 miles
- off Newport Beach
- 22 feet
- for the big males
- 6,000 pounds
- for the big males
Source: KTLA
Despite the name, they're members of the dolphin family. Education Manager Jessica Rodriguez said a strong El Niño might be changing ocean conditions, though "we cannot say for certain what brought them here." SanDiegoRed dates the sighting to Tuesday, Nov. 3. Rodriguez says they look "a lot like a beluga whale mixed with a killer whale."
- Family groups: 15 to 50 individuals
- Diet: squid, found thousands of feet down
- Size: nearly that of an orca
2015most recent year pilot whales had been seen in SoCal waters before this week
Davey's Locker says they have not been seen in Southern California waters since then.
Sources: KTLA, SanDiegoRed
Sources: KTLA, SanDiegoRed