Whale Watching with Marine Biologist Nico Ransome

Without doubt one of the most magical of sightings that we are occasionally gifted when out on the ocean in Nayarit, is a sighting of killer whale (Orcinus orca), also known simply as “orca”. While debate rallies around the world of how they should be commonly referred to in English, in the Spanglish world of coastal Mexican tourism we use the name orca, as it is common to multiple languages. For most people an oceanic encounter with orca is a life changing experience, something that they never dreamed of, a pinch-me-is-this-real moment, and literally a day you will never forget for the rest of your life. As these stunning, black and white marine mammals appear suddenly, and often playfully in the distance, they look so perfectly out of place in the tropics of Mexico, it really is hard to believe your eyes in wonder of their beauty. However, orca have one of the widest distributions of any mammal, and are found from pole to pole and throughout most waters in-between, and Mexico is becoming increasingly famous worldwide for regular sightings of these remarkable creatures, the pandas of the sea. The unmistakable large dorsal fin of the males, which can reach up to 2m (6ft), makes identifying the species even from afar relatively easy. And the excitement always grows as they submerge and surface and are approached, or more often than not, as curious and intelligent animals they beeline straight towards the boat. To experience this in a fishing panga, which is shorter in length than the maximum size of a large male 33ft (10m), makes the whole experience even more mind blowing. When they appear in large pods of 20 or more, it is game over. Everyone onboard will be screaming ecstatically, smiling from ear to ear, and even the most stoic of guests suddenly animated and shouting.

I am constantly asked about the orca of Mexico, especially as we named our whale watching company “La Orca de Sayulita” (check our website for the reason behind this, but we also wanted to have a name that represented whales and dolphins in both English and Spanish). To be honest, it is not a every day event to see orca here in Nayarit. However, this only makes encountering them even more incredible. The most sightings l have had in twenty years of working out on the ocean almost every day during the 14-week legal humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) watch season, is four times in a season. In total, during the two decades l have been working here, l have had 25 orca encounters. However, just because we rarely see them, does not necessarily mean they are rare! Orca are fast moving animals, which can travel long distances daily. They are harder to spot from a distance than the larger humpback whales, which make large exhalations – blows when breathing which can be seen for several kms. Orca are also not just a coastal species, and may be found in deep pelagic regions, off-shore islands, and are even known to enter estuaries and rivers. By being able to identify individuals (mainly by their dorsal fins) through photo-identification, and via collaboration with other biologists regionally, we are starting to learn more about the orca, that can very occasionally be sighted even from the beach in Sayulita.

The orca of Mexico are a new and only recently described ecotype called the “Eastern Tropical Pacific” (ETP) orca. Sighted between Southern California and Northern Peru. It appears, as reported in other tropical regions of the world, that ETP orca are generalist, feeding on a wide array of prey species of fish, turtles, rays, sharks and even marine mammals, including humpback whales. ETP orcas typically have hardly noticeable saddles (the grey patch behind the dorsal fin), which can be very pronounced in other orca ecotypes globally. They also appear to be smaller than some of the larger orca, such as those of the Pacific North West of North America. Additionally, one study from the Galapagos has suggested they may be more fluid and social in their associations and interact more with none related conspecifics. A collaborative project building a Mexican orca ID catalog being led by the University of Colima, and to which we have contributed 60+ sightings (25 ours, and 38 from photos gifted to us by other ocean goers), has now identified over 600 unique orca in Mexico! Some of them we know so well in this region of Nayarit we have names for them. However, the discovery rate of new individuals is still very high, suggesting we have identified just a small proportion of the population and our catalogues continue to grow each year. One famous male nicknamed Phantom (due to his eyepatch looking like a ghost), was last seen in Nayarit by the Marieta Islands attacking a baby humpback whale around 20 years ago, and has since been seen in Costa Rica, coastal Ecuador, the Galapagos and northern Peru! Phantom is one example of an ETP orca photographed feeding on both baby humpback whales and turtles. Our most famous orca from this region, another male that we call Ramon, is seen here almost each year without fail, although he was first sighted in Oaxaca in 1996. Ramon has never been seen outside of Mexico, but was once encountered 200nmiles off-shore in Jalisco. He has been seen feeding on bat rays, turtles and a few years ago near to La Lancha (much to the shock to all whale watchers onboard) was documented predating on a baby humpback whale in a solitary attack, that was successfully over in five minutes.

So, when is the best time to see the orca of Mexico here in Sayulita? Well, while they can be seen in any month, you probably guessed it, along the mainland coast of Mexico and especially around Banderas Bay, the best time to encounter orca is during the peak humpback whale calving season of January, February and March. Our most frequent sightings are from mid-January to mid-February. While actually seeing a predation event is very rare, their favorite prey here, l hate to say it but baby whales, more often than not drop to the ocean floor after death, and the orca stay diving and feeding in the same location for hours. Often when there is a sighting reported, we head out looking for magnificent frigate birds (Fregata magnificens) swooping high in the sky to locate the orca, and we are frequently lucky enough to encounter the animals in the exact same location they were seen 3 or 4 hours before. Seeing them here in Sayulita is such a privilege and there are rare years (such as 2018 and 2022) when we suddenly have daily encounters reported in the Bay region for a couple of weeks. If that happens again we will notify Sayulita Life to let everyone know. In the meantime, keep looking out at the ocean, as you never know it may just be your special turn to sight these beautiful creatures. Or better still get out on a boat, and even if you don´t get to see orca, the scenery, other wildlife and ocean alone make for a fabulous day and anyway, as they say in Mexico “en el mar la vida es más sabrosa” and being out there on the sea is always a good thing!

Written by Nico Ransome. Book a whale-watching tour with her here.