One humpback headed up the Sacramento River while a rarely seen group of orcas cruised past Orange County.
California’s whale watchers have had an unusual question to ask lately: Should they look offshore or upriver?
In Northern California, a humpback whale nicknamed Rio made its way through San Francisco Bay and into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Far to the south, a group of orcas more commonly associated with the tropical eastern Pacific appeared off Orange County. The sightings were separate events, but together they offered a reminder that marine wildlife doesn’t always stick to the places people expect to find it.
Rio’s trip began with a sighting in San Francisco Bay on Sept. 15. The whale continued east toward the Delta and was reported near Rio Vista, where the sight of a humpback in the Sacramento River drew plenty of attention. Rio is an adult identified in a whale photo catalog as CRC-11620. According to The Marine Mammal Center, the whale has been documented 15 times over the past 24 years in waters off California and Mexico.
For anyone fishing the river, that is a considerable change from the usual catch report. Angler Denny Glover captured video of the whale near Rio Vista on Sept. 16. The Marine Mammal Center said Rio was last seen on the afternoon of Sept. 18 heading west through the Delta toward San Francisco Bay, a promising direction, although the center hadn’t confirmed the whale’s return to the open ocean in its Sept. 21 update.
Rio isn’t the first humpback to explore the Delta, but the route is uncommon enough to bring back a couple of famous names. Humphrey the whale spent weeks around Rio Vista in 1985 before returning to the ocean. In 2007, a mother and calf known as Delta and Dawn spent about 20 days in the river system before heading back toward the bay. Rio’s appearance adds a new chapter to a short and memorable list of humpbacks that ventured well beyond their usual coastal waters.
While Rio was drawing eyes to the Sacramento River, Orange County whale watchers got a surprise of their own. Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching logged 13 orcas off Dana Point on Sept. 28. The group, identified in local reports as eastern tropical Pacific killer whales, included two calves and was observed traveling north along the coast. Boats off Newport Beach also followed their movement, turning an ordinary whale-watching day into the kind of trip passengers tend to remember.
Orcas do appear off Southern California, but this group is hardly a regular fixture on an Orange County whale watch. Eastern tropical Pacific orcas range through warmer waters off Mexico and farther south. Their visits here are irregular, which makes it difficult to say whether the group will linger, return soon or keep traveling. Their appearance is exciting precisely because no one can put it on a schedule.
The two sightings also call for different kinds of caution on the water. Rio was navigating an unusual river environment with boat traffic and limited room to maneuver. The Marine Mammal Center has asked boaters and other observers to remain at least 100 yards away, slow down and leave the whale a clear path rather than trying to follow or turn it. The same principle makes for better whale watching offshore: Let the animals choose their course, and enjoy the encounter from a respectful distance.
There’s no evidence that Rio’s inland journey and the orcas’ Orange County visit are connected. One took a humpback into the Delta; the other brought a traveling group of predators past a busy stretch of Southern California coast. What they share is the ability to make even experienced boaters look twice at the water. This month, a river fishing trip could come with a humpback sighting, and a whale watch off Dana Point could find orcas. California’s marine life has been keeping everyone on their toes.
