Orcas showed up in Newport Beach Oct. 6, 2017, a rare sighting of two pods not seen in the area often. One pod, the CA216, hasn’t been seen off OC since 2013. (Photo courtesy of Mark Girardeau/Newport Coastal Adventure)

Orcas were spotted off Newport Beach on Oct. 6, 2017, a rare sighting. (Photo courtesy of Frank Brennan/Dana Wharf Whale Watching)

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Orcas showed up in Newport Beach Oct. 6, 2017, a rare sighting of two pods not seen in the area often. One pod, the CA216, hasn’t been seen off OC since 2013. (Photo courtesy of Mark Girardeau/Newport Coastal Adventure)

Orcas were spotted off Newport Beach on Oct. 6, 2017, a rare sighting. (Photo courtesy of Frank Brennan/Dana Wharf Whale Watching)

Orcas showed up in Newport Beach Oct. 6, 2017, a rare sighting of two pods not seen in the area often. One pod, the CA216, hasn’t been seen off OC since 2013. (Photo courtesy of Mark Girardeau/Newport Coastal Adventure)



Orcas showed up in Newport Beach Oct. 6, 2017, a rare sighting of two pods not seen in the area often. One pod, the CA216, hasn’t been seen off OC since 2013. (Photo: Mark Girardeau/Newport Coastal Adventure)

Orcas showed up in Newport Beach Oct. 6, 2017, a rare sighting of two pods not seen in the area often. One pod, the CA216, hasn’t been seen off OC since 2013. (Photo: Mark Girardeau/Newport Coastal Adventure) .

Orcas showed up in Newport Beach Oct. 6, 2017, a rare sighting of two pods not seen in the area often. One pod, the CA216, hasn’t been seen off OC since 2013. (Photo courtesy of Mark Girardeau/Newport Coastal Adventure)

Orcas were spotted off Newport Beach on Oct. 6, 2017, a rare sighting. (Photo courtesy of Frank Brennan/Dana Wharf Whale Watching)

Orcas were spotted off Newport Beach on Oct. 6, 2017, a rare sighting. (Photo courtesy of Frank Brennan/Dana Wharf Whale Watching)



Orcas showed up in Newport Beach Oct. 6, 2017, a rare sighting of two pods not seen in the area often. One pod, the CA216, hasnÕt been seen off OC since 2013. (Photo courtesy of Matt Larmand Photography)

Orcas showed up in Newport Beach Oct. 6, 2017, a rare sighting of two pods not seen in the area often. One pod, the CA216, hasn’t been seen off OC since 2013. (Photo courtesy of Dana Wharf Whale Watching)

Orcas showed up in Newport Beach Oct. 6, 2017, a rare sighting of two pods not seen in the area often. One pod, the CA216, hasnÕt been seen off OC since 2013. (Photo courtesy of Matt Larmand Photography)

Orcas showed up in Newport Beach Oct. 6, 2017, a rare sighting of two pods not seen in the area often. One pod, the CA216, hasnÕt been seen off OC since 2013. (Photo courtesy of Matt Larmand Photography)

Orcas showed up in Newport Beach Oct. 6, 2017, a rare sighting of two pods not seen in the area often. One pod, the CA216, hasnÕt been seen off OC since 2013. (Photo courtesy of Matt Larmand Photography)



Orcas showed up in Newport Beach Oct. 6, 2017, a rare sighting of two pods not seen in the area often. One pod, the CA216, hasnÕt been seen off OC since 2013. (Photo courtesy of Matt Larmand Photography)

Orcas showed up in Newport Beach Oct. 6, 2017, a rare sighting of two pods not seen in the area often. One pod, the CA216, hasn’t been seen off OC since 2013. (Photo courtesy of Mark Girardeau/Newport Coastal Adventure)

Cheers, screams and laughter of delight filled the salty air.

Every time a massive dorsal fin breached the glistening ocean, “ooohhhs” and “ahhhhs” shot from the lips of gleeful passengers aboard a Dana Wharf Whale Watching charter who were scanning carefully as the pods of orcas swam in sync, leading the parade of boats following.

Two pods of killer whales — about 10 in total — made a rare showing off the Orange County coastline on Friday, Oct. 6, a treat for marine mammal enthusiasts who either jumped at the chance to see the orcas up close, or just happened to be on a whale watching boat on this particular sunny afternoon.

The buzz about the CA51 and CA216 pods started earlier this week when the orcas were spotted Tuesday by Oceanside Whale Watching and then Thursday by San Diego Whale Watching, the furthest south they have ever been documented, according to Alisa Schulman-Janiger, a whale researcher with the California Killer Whale Project.

So whale watching charters in Orange County were on the lookout for the pods. They were first spotted locally Friday morning by captain Alex Shaw from Newport Coastal Adventure who was near the shore in Aliso Beach in south Laguna.

By Friday afternoon, several whale watching boats were hanging near the orcas as they headed north in Newport Beach, one charter boat rushing down the coast from Long Beach and others making an hour-long jaunt from Dana Point, trying to get close to the creatures.

Frank Brennan has been a boat captain with Dana Wharf Whale Watching since 1996, and even though he wasn’t scheduled to work, he couldn’t help but jump on the boat for a chance to snap images of the whales.

“In 20 years, I’ve only seen them about six times,” he said, noting he hasn’t seen any killer whales in local waters in about a year.

These particular orcas are seen even less frequently, with the CA51s known mostly for hanging around Monterey. The last time they were spotted here was January 2015. And it’s been even longer for the CA216 pod, which was last seen in the area in 2013 off Dana Point, according to Schulman-Janiger,

What makes orcas so alluring: No one knows when they are going to show up. And when they do, they split quickly.

“It’s the luck-of-the-draw kind of thing, you need to be here,” Brennan said. “You never know when you’re going to see them.”

Emily Bloof, of Mission Viejo, had heard they were in San Diego a few days ago, and while sitting in a Starbucks after dropping off her kids at school Friday, saw a post that Dana Wharf Whale Watching had seen them on their 10 a.m. charter.

“I got right on it and got a trip.” she said.

When the boat approached the pod of orcas, while the crowd screamed and cheered, Bloof simply put her hand over her mouth in awe.

She had seen orcas in Alaska during an eight-hour trip, but they weren’t nearly as playful as the ones off Orange County, which were popping up near boats, surprising passengers, and swimming under vessels.

And the experience even surpassed the time the self-described “whale geek” went on an eight-hour catamaran trip to Catalina, when the group spotted 60 to 80 gray whales.

“This was better than that,” she said. “It is so unusual to see orcas here.”

A group aboard a Newport Coastal Adventure boat was startled as an orca suddenly appeared next to their small inflatable boat, prompting laughter from passengers on a nearby boat.

One orca, identified as “Bumper,” rode the Dana Wharf boat wake earlier Friday morning. Capistrano Beach resident Matt Larmand, who put off work to jump on the boat when he heard of the orcas in town, called it a “once in a lifetime” experience.

“It was unbelievable. This is as close as you’re ever going to get,” he said.

The trip aboard Dana Wharf was the perfect way for Emily Branum to end her Orange County vacation before heading home to Missouri.

“I didn’t expect to see anything like that — my mind was blown. It was amazing,” she said. “We were just so happy, it was beautiful. I wanted to cry.”

Schulman-Janiger said she got to see the two pods near the rigs off Huntington Beach, meaning they traveled from near Mexico waters up to northern Orange County in about 25 hours.

She was with them for about 15 minutes before two people on personal water crafts approached them closely, trying to get selfies with the orcas.

“You need to give them space,” she told them, but her pleas went unanswered and the pod went into the dark ocean water.

“We looked for an hour,” she said. “The whales disappeared.”