No, we aren't in California or some big 20th Century Fox movie, but orcas were spotted off the coast of Galveston this week!

It's the last thing we expect to see out in the Gulf of Mexico, but it did happen and it was caught on video. According to KHOU, the orcas were captured by an overnight fishing group on their way back in to port on Wednesday.

The fishing group's captain, Sam Hardeman, said that he was about 100 miles away from Galveston when he spotted something ahead of the boat and decided to slow down.

"We got closer, I thought it might be some pilot whales so I started to slow down," Hardeman told KHOU. "Before I knew it, the killer whales, they were just on us. It happened immediately."

KHOU says that the fishing group saw about 100 orcas initially and that a few broke off from the bigger group to follow their boat.

Some members of the fishing group were able to capture their own videos of the orcas before the swam away. It's something that experts consider a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity capturing them in the Gulf, and we get to experience here together.

Orcas out of Galveston!

Posted by Matt Smith on Wednesday, March 17, 2021

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), seeing orcas (or killer whales if that's what you like to call them) in the Gulf is a pretty rare sight. There are 28 different species of marine mammals known to call the Gulf of Mexico home, and the NOAA says that six of those species are considered endangered and are protected under the Endangered Species Act:

  • Sperm whales
  • Sei whales
  • Fin whales
  • Blue whales
  • Humpback whales
  • North Atlantic Right whales

Keep your eyes peeled this summer as you may be ready to plan vacations with your family or friends. You never know what once-in-a-lifetime event you may come across.

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