In a rare and magnificent sight for whale watchers, dozens of killer whales were spotted off the coast of Dana Point Thursday.
Dave Anderson has been trolling the waters for decades and when he spoke of the killer whale sighting, his eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning.
"First I just saw two or three puffs, then I saw four more - then six more, and then eight," Anderson said.
They were spotted miles away from a Dana Point catamaran, and then the hunt was on.
Anderson said the pod of killer whales was both unexpected and even exciting.
Experts say orcas make their home in British Columbia. If they are ever seen off the SoCal coast it's only a few at a time, headed somewhere else.
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"It's normal for them to be in that size group but you don't see groups of that size in this area," Anderson said. "We don't see a lot of offshore killer whales. Most of the whales we see through here are the transient killer whales."
It was quite a sight for those aboard as well. The two-hour trip became a four-hour tour.
Biologists said at least one of the orcas was tagged, and identified him as a whale named Scoopfin. He was last seen on the SoCal coast in January.
