Watch killer whales make ‘rare’ appearance near Texas fishing boat in Gulf of Mexico

A pod of orcas made a rare appearance in the Gulf of Mexico and “put on quite a show” for a Texas fishing boat.

The killer whales emerged within feet of a Galveston Party Boats, Inc., fishing boat Wednesday morning. The boat was about 130 miles south of Galveston during a 30-hour trip, owner Ed Schroeder told McClatchy News.

“They’re really putting on a show now,” an angler said in the video as several orcas broke the surface directly in front of the boat.

A spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the sighting off the coast of Galveston was “uncommon.”

According to a 2020 preliminary report, an estimated 267 killer whales live in Northern Gulf of Mexico. The most recent final stock assessment in 2012 estimated just 28 orcas in that region.

“Given that sightings are uncommon, any reports of killer whales in the Gulf of Mexico are valuable and any information on this or future sightings would be of interest to NOAA,” Kate Goggin, a NOAA Fisheries spokesperson, told McClatchy in an email.

The killer whale is a top marine predator and the largest member of the Delphinidae family, or oceanic dolphins. They are the most widely distributed species of all whales and dolphins.

Orcas are not listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act, but they’re protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act.