Boat captains said they knew they had to take a stab on finding the orcas spotted by chance off the Orange County coast, a family known as CA51 that hasn't been seen locally in about six years.

It wasn't easy, searching the vast ocean for the big black beauties, but passengers aboard Newport Coastal Adventure boats and Long Beach's Harbor Breeze got the thrill on Sunday, Dec. 15, getting up close to the pod.

The orcas were first spotted by Catalina Express on its way back from the small island to Dana Point just after noon, the captain alerting other boat excursion operators. The express hung out with the orcas for about 20 minutes while the massive mammals fed on a dolphin.

Newport Coastal Adventure Capt. Delaney Trowbridge went searching with her mid-day charter.

"We tried pretty hard to find them, based on the information the boat had given us," she said. "We thought the odds were pretty slim to find them again."

For the late afternoon charter, a choice had to be made: See a guaranteed pod of dolphins to the south, or head north to try and find the orcas in the vast ocean.

"We decided to take the risk," Trowbridge said. "It was orcas or bust."

One of the charter company's fast-moving boats jetted out toward the oil platforms near Huntington Beach, while Trowbridge's boat traveled along the coast.

"If they had gone toward Catalina, we wouldn't have found them on our two-hour trip," she said.Then, word came over the radio from their boat further out in the water, an excited voice filling the salty air.

"We got them, we got them!" she recounted Capt. Dave McCabe calling out, seeing the pod a mile and a half away.

Harbor Breeze was also nearby and its passengers watched the four orcas for about 45 minutes as they came to the surface.

The pod was heading northbound, the boats sticking with them through the sunset and traveling back to the dock after dark.

Trowbridge said this family is very well known among California whale watching enthusiasts, a beloved reputation because they are known to playfully interact with boats.

They were seen frequently from 2012 through 2018, but have stayed off Channel Islands and Monterey in recent years.

"This family went from one of the most frequently-sighted killer whales in Southern California, to now, we don't see them much at all," Trowbridge said. "We still see others, but these guys are spending time in other areas. They are mysterious animals, they go where they want to."

It could be that they found a "secret stash" of food somewhere, she said.

The pod included the matriarch, CA51 Star, and her three offspring, sons CA51B Orion and CA51C Bumper, and daughter CA51E Comet. Daughter CA51A Orora has split off with her own pod and was not seen with the family.

The last recorded orca sighting off Orange County's coast was late April, when the famed killer whale Frosty, notable for his lighter skin color, was seen. In recent years, Eastern Tropical Pacific orcas have been showing up to feed on dolphins.

Each pod of orcas has its own personality and behaviors, said wildlife photographer Mark Girardeau, who was also on the Newport Coastal Adventure boat.

"This one is cool because there's two well-known males, you see those massive dorsal fins," he said, estimating them to be about 6-feet tall. "Even from a distance, you see those huge dorsal fins floating on the surface. Everyone on the boat just starts to freak out."

Seeing orcas always brings excitement, in part due to their unpredictability, Girardeau said.

"I had this feeling we were overdue for orcas. There's no predicting it, it's so unexpected," he said. "When we get a report, they always take priority over everything, they are so mysterious."

Sometimes, years go by without seeing killer whales off the coast. Other years, a few pods will pass through or hand around to feed.

Trowbridge said the odds of the orcas sticking around are very low. The "transient" animals have a large range, from southeast Alaska to the Mexico border.

"They are always on the move," she said. "They were in travel mode, just going where they felt they needed to go."