Throughout the years, the crew at Captain Dave's Dolphin and Whale Safari – who are obviously hunting for dolphins and whales – have spotted a sea turtle.
In fact, Captain Dave Anderson's best guess is that he's only seen one a couple of times in the last decade.
But recently, Anderson and crew spotted a loggerhead sea turtle about 3 feet big, swimming approximately 2 1/2 miles off Dana Point. Loggerhead sea turtles are the largest hard-shelled turtles, Anderson said.
"Turtles are very rarely seen in the open ocean off Orange County so passengers and crew alike were very excited by this unique sighting," Anderson said. "Though loggerheads are the most numerous of all the marine turtle species in the US, threats like pollution and fishing gear entanglement remain a problem and have kept this animal on worldwide endangered lists."
First mate Mark Tyson, dubbed this not-so little guy, "Tudor."
