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Stunning Video: Close Encounters With Orcas Off Laguna Beach
Controversial stand-up paddleboarder Rich German recently released more stunning footage of his close encounters with marine life off the SoCal coast. This time it was a pod of killer whales, or orcas, off Laguna Beach, fulfilling a longtime dream of his.
Hearing reports that the animals were in the area, German paddlboarded out to a gathering of boats off Laguna Beach hoping they were all congregating around the whales. His intuition paid off, and his "dream came true" as it turned out to be a pod of five orcas. German says in the intro of his video that the whales were "being friendly and interactive" and that he never feared for his life, knowing that there are no known reports of orcas attacking humans in the wild. "I was too excited to be scared," he says.
German got unwanted attention for a previous video he uploaded back in September of his encounter with a blue whale. Many felt he was in violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act by getting so close to protected animals. With this latest video, German hopes to shine a light on the plight of killer whales, both in captivity and in the wild.
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