KEY LARGO, Fla. — Boaters stumbled across an unusual sight off the coast of the Florida Keys on Saturday — a pod of orcas.
A weekend fishing trip turned into one for the ages for a group of friends in the waters off Key Largo.
"Your eyes had to kind of adjust at first, you know. It was absolutely insane," boater Mike Slaughter said. "We were out in the Florida Straits and saw a bunch of birds in the distance and went over there, and it was a pod of maybe six or seven orcas."
He said it happened Saturday at about 9:30 a.m. in waters about 1,800 feet deep.
The orcas weren't just hanging out but having breakfast.
"At one point one of the orcas came out of the water and had a huge piece of meat in his mouth," Slaughter said. "You could smell it. It was really cool."
He said the orcas weren't small by any means.
"Our boat is 37 feet, and one of them was more than the length of the boat and as big around as the boat," he said. "It was definitely intimidating."
Marine biologist Gerard Loisel weighed in on just how unique this encounter was.
"It's not like it never happens, but it's rare, especially down this far," Loisel said. "They prefer colder waters so it's unusual for them to occur this far south, but it's happened before."
