VIDEO:Rare killer whale attack leaves baby gray whale dead and mother injured off Palos Verdes

05/09/2012

VIDEO:Rare killer whale attack leaves baby gray whale dead and mother injured off Palos Verdes

In an extremely rare occurrence for Los Angeles County waters, transient killer whales attacked and killed a baby gray whale off Point Vicente this afternoon. Captain Carl Mayhugh was on scene on board the whale watch vessel Christopher out of Harbor Breeze Cruises in Long Beach and witnessed much of the savage attack around 4pm.

Mayhugh was alerted by the ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project located at Point
Vicente on the Palos Verdes Peninsula that a gray whale mom/calf pair was under attack by killer whales. Mayhugh had observed the orcas around 2pm in the same area and had noticed four gray whales, two mom/calf pairs hiding in the Palos Verdes kelp forests. "It was obvious then that they were hiding for their lives," said Mayhugh.

"I got on the public address system and apprised our passengers of the attack. "This could be brutal," he told the whale watchers on board. "If you don't want to see this then don't look; but we are going."

Upon arriving, Mayhugh said that the baby gray whale was already dead. "It was shocking to see but everyone on board seemed to accept it as a part of nature."

The orcas began dragging the baby whales' carcass backwards. "At one point, the baby's face came out of the water; jaws open followed by a swirl of blood."

According to Mayhugh, the mother looked exhausted after numerous orcas had tried to drag her underwater and drowned her. "She was rolling on her back and looking like she was ready to give up," said Mayhugh. "Just as it looked like she was finished, she put on a burst of speed as fast as I've ever seen from a gray and swam away from the pack."

The pack of 12 orcas then turned their attention to devouring the smaller leviathan.

This is an extremely rare occurrence for the waters off Los Angeles and may well be the first documented orca kill of a gray whale here. Most of these kinds of attacks take place in the Northern California waters off Monterey and in the Arctic Sea.

"I didn't know whether to feel blessed to be seeing this, sorry for the whales or a mix of emotions," said Mayhugh. "One thing is for sure; it's a memory I will take with me to the grave."

Earlier in the day , it appears that these same orcas may have attacked a group of sea lions. Redondo Special deckhand Ryan Koverman said that the passengers and crew on board the Redondo Beach based 1/2 day boat witnessed killer whales attacking sea lions today. "We saw killer whales this morning feeding on a large group of sea lions on our way to Point Vicente.

Photo: File photo of an orca taken by Bernardo Alps.

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