Fishermen Spot Killer Whales off Florida Coast

Killer whales jumpingPhoto byWikimedia

A routine yellowfin tuna fishing trip turned into an extraordinary adventure for eight boaters off Florida's coast. Jay Charron, aboard his brother Alan Charron's boat, The Corkscrew, witnessed a rare sight – a pod of killer whales swimming 80 to 100 miles east of Fort Pierce.

"Normally you never see them out there. I've been out there 40, 50 years, off and on, and I've never once seen an orca on the East Coast," Jay Charron.

The crew initially noticed the whales' spouts before spotting them.

"When the whale comes up out of the water and blows its thing up like that, you see the dorsal fin – it's unmistakable," Jay Charron described. "It's something you see at SeaWorld, never out in the world and definitely not on the East Coast."

There were two pods, each containing two or three whales, taking turns surfacing. Jay Charron couldn't determine if they were young whales with their parents or a male and female pair, but the experience was "shocking" for all on board.

While the boat didn't approach the whales closely, Jay Charron used his phone's zoom tool to capture the moment. You can watch the video below.

He noted that everyone on the boat had years of fishing experience but had never witnessed anything like this before.

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