Embarking on a whale-watching cruise completely removes you from land. 

This scientific expedition, focused on marine mammals in the Gulf of California, took us out to sea for days at a time. The goal was to have a record of every marine mammal that crossed our path; there were stations exclusively for observation.

Believe it or not, spotting them is a tricky business. Three observers and a note-taker are positioned at the bow and sides of the boat. There is a whole protocol, defined times. Eyes get tired of staring, so rest periods are mandatory.

The mission progressed smoothly. We recorded blue whales, gray whales, humpback whales, fin whales, false killer whales, dolphins. All wonderful. You get a sense of the rich biodiversity that inhabits the Gulf of California.

-Feeders!

In the lexicon of sighting cruises, feeder refers to a site of intense splashing, presence of seabirds, which tells us that schools of fish and other predatory species are below. We all rushed out.

This time, it was dolphins.

Then there was silence. All was calm, too calm.

Everyone aboard was looking to find out where they had gone, when suddenly we noticed a huge pod of dolphins moving away from our spot at high speed. They were going incredibly fast. They moved forward to a point and abruptly changed their route, now towards us. That’s when tall, dark dorsal fins emerged: they were killer whales. One male, several females and a few juveniles.

It moved quickly. There was no doubt, the dolphins, who minutes before were hunting for fish, had become the prey. They were fleeing, flanked by the killer whales that were showing off their hunting intelligence.

When the pod of dolphins reached the closest point to the boat, calm returned.

No noise.

It was interrupted by a dolphin flying through the sky. Its first prey. A second body stunned with a tail. This was the orcas’ feast. We watched as the adult orcas trained the juveniles to work as a team, to hunt.

Far away we saw a body. We approached to investigate. When it looked like we could lift the dolphin’s body, a killer whale surfaced, bit its prey, and went down with it.

Author: Sergio González, Regional Coordinator in Baja California Sur of Pronatura Noroeste.