\u201cOn a good year, we expect to see maybe one such orca,\u201d said Capt. Matt Stumpf, who has sailed with Capt. Dave\u2019s since 2020. \u201cWe may get one day where one or two trips get to see it, but that\u2019s again one day in a good and typical year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Social media footage<\/a> showed the whales traveling in a pod and within feet of a few boats, leaving guests awed.<\/p>\n Stumpf said the aquatic mammals were tracked throughout the day and first spotted by boats off the coast of Newport Beach. The sighting was at least the third for the company over the last three weeks, he said, fueling speculation as to what the whales, normally found off Baja and farther south, are doing so far north.<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t tell you exactly the cause,\u201d Stumpf said. But \u201cour water is so warm much later than it usually is\u201d as a result of El Ni\u00f1o.<\/p>\n Normally, he said, the maximum ocean water temperature in the area would range from the mid-50s to the mid-60s at this time of year, and visiting whales are usually the type that can handle colder temperatures.<\/p>\n But October has not brought a cooldown, he said. \u201cThe temperature off San Clemente Island is over 70<\/a> … That\u2019s tropical.\u201d<\/p>\n As the Orange County whale watchers were enjoying their unusual brush with warm-water orcas, a kayaker to the north had a brush with a great white shark.<\/p>\n Bay Area resident David Slavich told a local television station<\/a> that he was kayaking off Half Moon Bay on Sunday when a great white approached. Slavich\u2019s footage shows the apex predator pulling within a couple of feet of the kayak.<\/p>\n A guest aboard a Capt. Dave\u2019s vessel off Laguna Beach records visiting orcas.<\/p>\n (Andy Sanchez Alcaraz \/ Capt. Dave\u2019s Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari)<\/p>\n \u201cI hear this woosh, and I look over my shoulder, and I see this massive, massive silhouette and the distinctive fin,\u201d Slavich told KRON. \u201cThis is not a killer whale, this is not a dolphin.\u201d<\/p>\n Slavich can be heard repeating \u201cOh my God\u201d in the video. He said he \u201cbraced for impact,\u201d but the fish didn\u2019t disturb the small craft.<\/p>\n Chris Lowe, professor of marine biology and director of Long Beach State\u2019s Shark Lab, said the great white was in a well-known migration pattern.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the time of year when adult male white sharks are returning from their offshore migrations,\u201d Lowe said, \u201cand that stretch of coastline is a good hunting spot for them due to the northern elephant seal rookery there.\u201d<\/p>\n Incidents involving people are generally rare, according to John Ugoretz, Pelagic Fisheries and Ecosystem Program manager for the Marine Region of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is really no correlation between sightings and incidents,\u201d he said via email. \u201cIncidents where a shark actually touches a person or their boat\/kayak are extremely rare in California, while sightings (especially those reported to the media, given ease of reporting) are somewhat common.\u201d<\/p>\n San Mateo County has had the second-most incidents of any California county since 1950, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife tracker<\/a>. The department defines an incident as \u201cany documented case where a shark approached and touched a person in the water, or touched a person\u2019s surfboard, kayak, paddleboard, etc.\u201d<\/p>\n There have been 22 such incidents in the county. San Diego County has had the most shark-related incidents with 27, according to the tracker, and Santa Barbara County is third with 21. There have been 238 incidents statewide \u2014 five this year. The most recent San Mateo County incident was July 12 at Pillar Point, which also involved a kayaker, who was not injured.<\/p>\n Surfing, with 81, is by far the No. 1 activity associated with incidents involving sharks.<\/p>\n ![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1793202974_308_.jpeg\")
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