Killer Whales Hunting Common Dolphins off Moss Landing

Calm seas off Moss Landing gave us an unobstructed view of an active predatory hunt this morning aboard Ocean Spirit. Killer whales intercepted a pod of roughly 500 long-beaked common dolphins we were tracking, quickly targeting a single animal and separating it from the school, which immediately broke into a frantic, high-speed stampede.

The hunt displayed the raw physical power characteristic of mammal-eating killer whales in Monterey Bay. Delivering heavy, calculated kinetic strikes from beneath the surface, the orcas repeatedly rammed the dolphin, sending both predator and prey roughly six feet clear of the surface as the dolphin tumbled through the air.

Just outside Moss Landing Harbor, where the Monterey Submarine Canyon begins, foraging activity was concentrated and steady. Between 10 and 15 humpback whales were actively feeding near the harbor mouth—part of twenty humpbacks observed across the morning—surrounded by 500 California sea lions, hundreds of common murres, brown pelicans, and several parasitic jaegers harassing the seabirds.

Observing an predation event in such flat-calm conditions provides a stark, clear look at the trophic interactions constantly shaping life along the edge of the canyon.