Snorkeler Films Breathtaking Encounter With Calm and Peaceful Giant Orca

A snorkeler has filmed a breathtaking encounter with a calm and peaceful giant orca in the Gulf of California.

The video, taken by Evans Baudin, founder of diving organization Baja Shark Experience in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico, shows a huge female orca swimming towards the camera underwater in the Sea of Cortez.

It is widely believed that orcas can be found only in colder climates, but the mammals can also be discovered up and down the Gulf of California and the Baja coast.

The gulf has become a popular migration point for a particular population of orcas that usually migrate here in search of warmer climates in which to breed. The whales then return to the cold waters of the North Pacific.

Baudin told Newsweek that this encounter was filmed during a Big Animal Expedition where divers look for large marine life such as sharks and orcas.

"On this day, we were specifically looking for orcas, so everyone on board, including myself, was prepared and hopeful for this encounter. The interaction was done snorkeling, not scuba-diving, and we had the chance to share this precious moment with a pod of five orcas in total, this female being the most curious," Baudin said.

"This specific orca was extremely curious and came back to us several times. She was always very careful and very calm."

Despite the close proximity to the orca, Baudin does not appear to be in danger. Although orcas—also famously known as killer whales—are skilled apex predators, they are almost never a danger to humans in the wild.

The whales are also huge animals, measuring between 16 and 23 feet. However, the only recorded orca attacks on humans have occurred in captivity.

"[She was] very peaceful. We spent the whole afternoon watching them from the surface and interacting with them in the water when the moments were appropriate," Baudin said.

Orcas are incredibly intelligent animals and have been observed displaying social behavior with humans in the wild.

For example, orcas have frequently been observed chasing or interacting with boats, and it is only rarely that they damage the vessels. However, scientists do not believe these acts are out of aggression, rather, they are more likely to be out of curiosity or play.

In February 2022, a video of an orca chasing a speed boat in the Gulf of California circulated social media.

The orca could be seen leaping out of the water from behind the boats, while passengers yelled with glee.