Whale watchers off the Southern California coast got an up-close look at why orcas have earned the nickname “killer whales.”

A rare encounter off the South Bay on Wednesday, Jan. 24, allowed a group aboard Newport Coastal Adventure to witness a National Geographic-worthy moment as a pod of orcas hunted down and mauled a sea lion.

An orca “spy hops” to get a close look at the Newport Coastal Adventure boat off the South Bay on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. (Photo courtesy of Mark Girardeau/Orange County Outdoors)

A sea lion is seen struggling as a pod of orcas hunts and kills off of the South Bay on Jan. 24, 2018. (Photo courtesy of Ryan Lawler/Newport Coastal Adventure)

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A sea lion became lunch for these orcas, seen off Redondo Beach and later off Palos Verdes on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. (Photo courtesy of Mark Girardeau/ Orange County Outdoors)

A group of orcas off the Palos Verdes Peninsula were on the hunt, mauling a sea lion and chasing down dolphins on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. (Photo courtesy of Mark Girardeau/ Orange County Outdoors)

A group of orcas off Palos Verdes Peninsula were on the hunt, mauling a sea lion and chasing down dolphins on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. (Photo courtesy of Mark Girardeau/Orange County Outdoors)



A group of orcas off Palos Verdes were on the hunt, mauling a sea lion and chasing down dolphins on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. (Photo courtesy of Mark Girardeau/Orange County Outdoors)

An orca jumps out of the water off Palos Verdes Peninsula on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. Photo courtesy of Mark Girardeau/ Orange County Outdoors

A pod of orcas hunted down a sea lion in the South Bay on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. (Photo courtesy of Ryan Lawler, Newport Coastal Adventure)

A pod of dolphins split quickly after realizing they are being hunted by orcas. (Photo courtesy of Ryan Lawler/Newport Coastal Adventure)

The Palos Verdes Peninsula coast is seen in the distance as an orca spy hops to get a look at Newport Coastal Adventure’s small boat. (Photo courtesy of Ryan Lawler/Newport Coastal Adventure)



Harbor Breeze, based out of Long Beach, got an up close view of orcas that showed up off of Palos Verdes. Photo courtesy of Mark Girardeau/Orange County Outdoors)

Harbor Breeze, based out of Long Beach, got an up close view of orcas that showed up off of Palos Verdes. Photo courtesy of Mark Girardeau/Orange County Outdoors)

Harbor Breeze, based out of Long Beach, got an up close view of orcas that showed up off of Palos Verdes. Photo courtesy of Mark Girardeau/Orange County Outdoors)

“It’s really heart-warming, in an ecological sense. I don’t get emotional about ‘poor sea lion.’ I wouldn’t want to be the sea lion, that’s for sure. But that’s the way it is, and it’s important sustenance for this pod of orcas,” said Newport Coastal Adventure founder Ryan Lawler.

“It was like being in Yellowstone and seeing a pack of wolves track down an elk. As they say, orcas are the wolves of the sea.”

The orcas also chased a pod of dolphins down the coast, and tried to attack another sea lion that managed to escape by hiding in a kelp forest.

It was a first for Lawler, a longtime fisherman and boat captain who has spent countless hours at sea, to see orcas in hunting mode. He’s witnessed orcas off the Southern California coast about eight times, he said. They are among the more exciting species for whale watching enthusiasts because of their rare appearances, unpredictably and playful nature.

The eight-hour trip was a special excursion with a group of whale watching experts, including boat captains from another Newport whale watching company and photographer Mark Girardeau, who runs the website Orange County Outdoors. None, except for Girardeau in Northern California, had ever witnessed an orca feed on a sea lion.

“We were all professional whale watchers, we were all awestruck,” Lawler said.

After the morning searching the sea for whales, the group of five had just arrived at Catalina and planned on grabbing lunch and taking a hike. Then, they got a text from Marina del Rey Whale Watching, reporting a pod of orcas in the Santa Monica Bay.

“We grabbed some cheeseburgers and said ‘let’s go,'” Lawler said.

They intercepted the pod in Redondo Beach, where the orcas were chasing down a sea lion for a meal.

“The sea lion would come up for air, try and catch a break, and the ocras would surround it and body slam it,” Lawler said. “The orcas went down and we didn’t see the sea lion. The next time we saw them come up, the sea lion was in their mouth, in a couple of pieces.”

After their hunt, the orcas were especially playful.

“Orcas get most gregarious after they make the kill,” he said. “So after we witnessed them kill the sea lion, they came up next to the boat, they spy hopped, lifted half their bodies out of the water trying to look at us. That was special and something new — the orcas were actively investigating us.”

The boat followed as the orcas headed south to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Suddenly, the pod shifted direction and headed toward the shoreline.

“You could tell when they heard something under water. They heard a pod of dolphins close to shore and b-lined it, sneaking up on the dolphins,” Lawler said.

When the dolphins realized they were being hunted, they jolted into flight mode, “as fast as I’ve ever seen them,” Lawler said. It seemed all of the dolphins escaped unharmed.

Lawler was surprised at how close the orcas got to shore — just a few yards from the sand in 60 feet of water, drawing a group of spectators from the cliff. Before long, they went after another sea lion, which found safe harbor in a kelp forest.

After three hours with the pod, as the sun set, it was time to return to Newport Harbor. The pod was headed south, so Lawler said he and other whale watchers will be keeping a close eye out for them off Orange County.

This pod was the CA51A matriline, last seen by Newport Coastal Adventure on Dec. 6, 2016, joined by the male CA50B, according to Alisa Schulman-Janiger, a killer whale researcher.

“To see the checks and balances of the eco-system — it’s really something cool to see,” Lawler said. “It’s a sign that the ocean is healthy.”

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