ORCAs off Palos Verdes.. We think we heard them loud and clear and..<gulp>... near!

[XS Scuba]

Dang! Now, I'm feeling old. I started working for Ron, Omar and Dick at the Aquatic Centers in 1976. I worked full and part time at the Aquatic Center for the next 15 plus years (LA County 32 UICC). I got to grow up working for these guys and decking onboard the Golden Doubloon. When Eddie Tsukimura had to retire he convinced me to buy the Golden Doubloon (just like Mel Fisher convinced Eddie to buy that old boat). When I didn't have enough cash to pay Eddie, I got my dive buddy Greg Elliot to partner with me in the boat. Boy, those were some good days!

I presented the LA county diver of the year award to Ron in 1972 or 1973, can not quite remember the dates. The award was a gold plated Healthways regulator. Ron was wearing spear gun shock cord as a belt. He flashed those eyebrows and thanked us with a bit of his usual wit and sarcasm.

Made many a weekend dive of the Golden Doubloon. Lots of fun.

 

[Sam Miller III]

I recall now that you were Greg's partner in the venture--or should I say adventure of the Golden Doubloon.

Was Clive still working at the SA AC when you started?

FYI Sam IV, was Greg's deck hand while at LB state - he is now a Doctor in last few months of a 4 year residency program. Yes time has rocketed by...

And the editor of Discover Diving when I was writing the "Way it Was" column? Name excapes me!

Oh, the memory of the days of our dives!

SDM

 

[fishfinder]

That is amazing! I had read about orca sightings in southern California within the last year or two but I have never heard of anyone hearing them in the water. Scott, Penny, Jen and I heard the gray whales singing at OML back in January and it was amazing. The second dive Jen and I heard it fairly close. It was a great experience.

I watched a show that showed a pod of orcas hunting a gray whale calf. They followed the mother and calf for four hours until they were worn out. Then the orcas moved in and separated the mom and calf and jumped on the baby until they were able to drown it. It was incredibly sad and brutal.

Marianne

 

[SparticleBrane]

The only whale sounds I'm familiar with are humpbacks, from Star Trek: The Voyage Home. Sounded neat though...

 

[Jake]

Is anyone aware of which "type" of orca these are that live off our coast? I've always understood them to be either fish/small animal carnivores, or larger mammalian predators (e.g. whales, seals, sea lions, etc), that the two types generally don't associate, and that only the mammal hunters pose a risk to humans. I wonder if a) I'm just making this up (?), and b) if anyone has studied the population enough to know one way or the other what their diet consists of.

 

[CompuDude]

Very cool! I hope to hear them someday soon!

Not sure if I want to actually SEE them, however, except perhaps from a boat. Might be more than a little scary to come across one in the water.

 

[mdb]

Very cool! I hope to hear them someday soon!

Not sure if I want to actually SEE them, however, except perhaps from a boat. Might be more than a little scary to come across one in the water.

CompuDude: Not really scary. I have had the great good fortune to be diving in Puget Sound with a pod of Orca whales. They seemed, to me, just a bit bemused that a poor human was hanging about. I have had the same experience with Dolphins and Gray Whales. Intelligent mammals.

 

[CompuDude]

Don't get me wrong, if I could be assured of my safety, I would LOVE it!

They're very intelligent, and the LA Times story linked earlier in the thread was fascinating, re the orca that brought the scientists a fish! So cool!

Yet scary. Moreso even than great whites, for me, even though there is (apparently) no recorded attacks on humans. I suppose that makes the thought easier, actually.

 

[LAJim]

Had lunch today with the Director of the Wrigley Institute at Catalina. Told him the orca sound story. He said there is a 6 orca pod called the "resident pod" that was spotted off of PV by helicopter a couple days after we heard the sounds. The pod has been working this area recently and spends most of its time in the Channel Islands. A second, very large pod (Super Pod) also comes around but has not been in the area recently.

Anyhow he said the pod would have reacted to our presence by checking us out and vocalizing in the manner we described.

I'm satisfied we heard orcas.

Jim