Orcas from Pods 122D and 49C Join Feeding Humpbacks

Our afternoon departure aboard Sanctuary culminated in an encounter with five transient killer whales identified as individuals from pods 122D and 49C. These apex predators—the largest members of the dolphin family— delighted our passengers by actively hunting while we viewed them.

The amazing killer whale sighting culminated a series of observations that had been anchored by Humpback whales throughout the day. Over thirty individual humpbacks spent the day feeding voraciously, capitalizing on concentrated prey patches across Monterey Bay. Rather than resting or traveling, their focus remained entirely on foraging, with sightings and surface lunges steadily multiplying as the day advanced.

Surface conditions remained favorable across the schedule, shifting gently from glassy calm during our morning departure to a light chop by late afternoon. While our morning trip focused primarily on the foraging humpbacks, the mid-day and afternoon trips crossed paths with large groups of long-beaked common dolphins numbering roughly a thousand animals, along with five bottlenose dolphins moving through the area.

No two trips on the bay unfold the same way, and watching the water transition from concentrated baleen whale feeding to multi-species dolphin encounters serves as a quiet reminder of just how dynamic this marine ecosystem remains from one hour to the next.