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Nine stories of sea creature rescues and encounters. See them

Stories by Real-Time News journalists, with AI summarization

Off California, a North Pacific right whale, one of fewer than 50 in U.S. waters, lingered near a research boat for 20 minutes, giving scientists a close look at this rare species. Anglers in Honduras witnessed orcas coordinating an attack on a sperm whale, revealing unique predation behaviors rarely documented in the Caribbean.

Take a look at the stories below.

A pair of humpback whales were recently recorded breaching the surface off the coast of California. Photo from Karsten Koehn, UnSplash

NO. 1: MASSIVE SEA CREATURES BREACH OFF CALIFORNIA, VIDEO SHOWS. ‘I TRULY WILL NEVER FORGET’

“It’s hard to explain the sheer size and power of these incredible, intelligent animals,” the man who took the video wrote.  | Published May 13, 2024 | Read Full Story by Brendan Rascius

Scientists recognized the creature as a North Pacific right whale due to its distinct features. The whale pictured here is a different right whale than the one spotted on May 24. Robert Pitman, NOAA

NO. 2: RARE SEA CREATURE APPROACHES SCIENTISTS’ BOAT OFF CA COAST AND LINGERS FOR 20 MINUTES

Fewer than 50 of these animals are left in U.S. waters, experts say. | Published May 28, 2024 | Read Full Story by Julia Daye

Humpback whales are abundant this time off year off the coast of Northern California, much to the delight of whale watchers. Pascal Mauerhofer on Unsplash

NO. 3: ‘BREACHING BONANZA’ STUNS WHALE WATCHERS OFF CALIFORNIA, PHOTOS SHOW. SEE THE HUMPBACKS

“The humpbacks were in top form!” the organization said. | Published July 3, 2024 | Read Full Story by Julia Daye

A humpback whale entangled in thick rope was rescued by divers off the coast of Namibia, video shows. Photo from Andrew Svk, UnSplash

NO. 4: MASSIVE SEA CREATURE WAS ANCHORED TO OCEAN FLOOR BY ROPE. WATCH DIVERS STEP IN

Divers used specialized knives to cut through the thick mass of rope. | Published September 10, 2024 | Read Full Story by Brendan Rascius

A pygmy blue whale was rescued after it became wedged underneath a wharf in New Zealand, officials said. Photo from the Department of Conservation

NO. 5: 50-FOOT WHALE GOT WEDGED UNDER WHARF. THEN CAME ‘HUGE’ RESCUE OPERATION, PHOTOS SHOW

The rescue operation took place on Kawau Island, New Zealand. | Published September 24, 2024 | Read Full Story by Brendan Rascius

A group saw a “rare” sighting while whale watching in California, the company wrote on Facebook. Matt Hardy Unsplash

NO. 6: SEA CREATURE SPOTTED IN CALIFORNIA BAY FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2013. SEE THE PHOTOS

At first, the group thought the creature was a floating carcass, but it was very much alive. | Published November 18, 2024 | Read Full Story by Paloma Chavez

Anglers off the coast of Honduras captured rare footage of a pod of orcas eating a sperm whale, according to a new study. Photo from Felix Rottmann, UnSplash

NO. 7: ANGLERS GLIMPSE RARE MOMENT OF ORCAS ‘COORDINATING’ ATTACK ON WHALE, STUDY SAYS

After the attack, which took place off the coast of Honduras, one of the orcas charged “directly” at the anglers’ boat. | Published January 15, 2025 | Read Full Story by Brendan Rascius

The calf was first spotted New Year’s Eve. James Beheshti via Unsplash

NO. 8: BABY KILLER WHALE WITH PEACHY COLORING SEEN BONDING WITH FAMILY OFF WA. ‘PHENOMENAL’

A video shows the endangered sea creature rolling and splashing. | Published March 4, 2025 | Read Full Story by Helena Wegner

In a “rare” sighting, a sperm whale was observed swimming into the mouth of a river in Ireland. Just a few dozen sperm whale sightings have been made off the coast of Ireland since 1990, according to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group. Photo from IWDG, Facebook

NO. 9: DEEP WATER WHALE SEEN SWIMMING UP SHALLOW RIVER IN IRELAND, PHOTOS SHOW. ‘RARE EVENT’

The species has only been documented off the Emerald Isle about two dozen times since 1990. | Published March 28, 2025 | Read Full Story by Brendan Rascius

The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.