Laguna Beach photographer Rich German witnessed and captured three orca encounters over a four-day period last week in Laguna.
“The highlight of the first encounter was seeing them fly out of the water as the sun was setting,” German recalled. “And then on the second encounter, I saw something I never really wanted to see. The same pod came within a quarter mile of the coast and attacked a pod of dolphins. The largest male in the pod flew a dolphin into the air on its nose and then killed it. I was lucky enough to get a photo of the poor dolphin in the killer whale’s mouth. It was an amazing sight to witness to say the least.”
The pod of eight eastern tropical pacific whales was seen again in the area on Tuesday, Sept. 18.
“It is rare to see them at all, let alone for them to remain in the area for so long,” German said.
