On an unseasonably hot October day, a sightseeing catamaran skidded out of Dana Point Harbor and into the open sea. The sky was clear, offering postcard-pretty views of Catalina Island to the west, and the calm, 73-degree water was straight out of a bathtub.
“It’s like a lake out here, which is wonderful conditions for sighting these animals,” Amanda McFadden, a naturalist for Captain Dave’s Dana Point Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari, announced to a few dozen passengers.
By “these animals,” she was mostly talking about dolphins and whales, which are commonly sighted along this stretch of the Orange County coastline. But there was also a chance of spotting less common creatures that have lately made appearances up and down the Southern California coast due in part to El Niño’s warming effect. And one of those creatures was especially exciting: the devil ray…