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Video captures airborne orcas tossing dolphins out of the water in Monterey Bay
Digital Content Manager
MOSS LANDING, Calif. —
A rare sight was captured in Monterey Bay on Sunday as a pod of orcas was seen leaping out of the water while hunting dolphins.
Sanctuary Cruises said its passengers got to witness the encounter up close, including one adult orca ramming a dolphin in midair and another jumping an estimated 15 feet to catch it.
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The whales were first spotted on Sunday morning by Capt. Joseph Stagnaro aboard the Sanctuary. Mike Sack, owner of Sanctuary Cruises and captain of the Ocean Spirit, photographed the moment an orca rammed the dolphin.
“In my 18 years on Monterey Bay, a predation event like this is something truly special. We had just five guests aboard our small boat, the Ocean Spirit, and the orcas were launching themselves at the dolphins on both sides of us. They were jumping so high they cleared the roof of our RHIB,” said Mike Sack, owner of Sanctuary Cruises.
The whales were later identified as members of CA140B, known as Louise’s Pod, alongside the well-known male orca CA151, “Jimmy.”
“We found them almost as soon as we cleared the harbor. Being the first whale-watching boat on the water at 8 a.m. means we get to find the good stuff before anyone else, and we had these orcas completely to ourselves for a full hour before any other boats arrived,” said Joseph Stagnaro, captain of the Sanctuary.
