Thirteen killer whales cruised past Newport Beach Harbor on Monday, Sept. 28, a rare visit from a tropical species more commonly found off Mexico and Central America.

The pod of eastern tropical Pacific orcas, including two calves, was first spotted about five miles off Dana Point early that morning, the OC Register reported. By Tuesday afternoon, the group had moved north past Newport Beach Harbor and continued toward Huntington Beach, according to Dana Wharf naturalist and photographer Laura Lopez.

Jessica Rodriguez, education manager for Davey's Locker & Newport Landing Whale Watching in Newport Beach, told the OC Register the same family pod was last seen by local whale-watching boats in January 2024. It had been documented 19 separate times from December 2023 through February 2024, repeatedly observed hunting dolphins, socializing and interacting with young.

"Seeing them return to the Newport Beach area more than two years later, with familiar individuals and a new generation of young killer whales, is incredibly exciting," Rodriguez told the OC Register.

Alisa Schulman-Janiger, lead biologist for the California Killer Whale Project, identified four mother whales in the pod by name: Ana, Baja Nicki, Top Notch and Kali. Other whales spotted include Cookie and Coronado, according to KTLA.

The orcas look different from the killer whales sometimes seen in colder Pacific waters. They carry very faint saddle patches, according to Patch. Their diet is broader, too. Lopez said they eat dolphins, sea turtles, sharks and even other whales.

Dana Wharf Capt. Steve Burkhalter told the OC Register the pod was moving steadily up the coast. The orcas would surface, take a series of breaths, then stay down for four to five minutes before coming up again. Donna Kalez, manager of Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching, boarded an afternoon boat herself to see them.

Dana Wharf extended both its morning and afternoon whale watches from two hours to three to give passengers more time with the pod. Newport Landing Sportfishing also had charter boats on the water Monday.

Abnormally warm ocean temperatures, El Niño conditions and Hurricane Polo churning several hundred miles to the south have drawn other rarely seen animals to Southern California waters in recent weeks, ABC7 reported. Those same forces have brought a hammerhead shark, a whale shark and sea turtles closer to shore.

Rodriguez told KTLA it remains unclear how long the pod will stay off Orange County, but local crews plan to keep tracking the whales as they move up the coast.