Move over nice white sharks. Make room for one more apex predator on the town.
Four killer whales have been just lately noticed south of Nantucket, a uncommon pod sighting in southern New England waters, whereas an orca was additionally seen swimming close to dolphins off of Provincetown.
New England Aquarium scientists noticed the 4 killer whales swimming collectively because the analysis group flew aerial surveys 40 miles south of Nantucket on Sunday.
Meanwhile, fishermen noticed the orca swimming subsequent to the dolphins off the northern tip of Cape Cod.
It’s “always unusual to see killer whales in New England waters,” mentioned Orla O’Brien, an affiliate analysis scientist who leads the aerial survey group for the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life.
Katherine McKenna, an assistant analysis scientist, first noticed the 4 killer whales.
“Initially I could just see two splashes ahead of the plane,” McKenna mentioned. “As we circled the area, two whales surfaced too quickly to tell what they were. On the third surfacing, we got a nice look and could see the tell-tale coloration before the large dorsal fins broke the surface.”
The 4 killer whales have been amongst practically 150 whales and dolphins that the group noticed through the seven-hour flight — together with 23 fin whales, 5 minke whales, 62 bottlenose dolphins, and 20 humpback whales bubble feeding.
“Seeing them swim in formation was just unreal,” O’Brien mentioned of the orca pod. “We consider the sighting to be two males and two females, however that hasn’t been confirmed.
“I think seeing killer whales is particularly special for us because it unlocks that childhood part of you that wanted to be a marine biologist,” O’Brien added.
The species’ inhabitants could be very small in western North Atlantic waters. The solely killer whale seen repeatedly in North Atlantic waters is “Old Thom,” a big male orca who is thought to swim alone, typically alongside dolphins, within the Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy. He was final noticed in Massachusetts waters in May 2022 off of Cape Cod.
A big orca that was swimming subsequent to dolphins was just lately captured on video by Simon Sez Sportfishing.
“Special day today seeing an Orca Whale in our waters off P-town,” Simon Sez posted on Instagram. “Never know what you’ll see, this made up for a tuna-less day today.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”