Orcas, it seems, are moving north. Last Sunday, a group of scientists from the New England Aquarium on an aerial survey spotted a pod of four orcas about 40 miles south of Nantucket. They were surprised to see orcas that far north; they usually stay in warmer water farther south. “It’s always unusual to see killer whales in New England waters,” said Orla O’Brien, who led the Aquarium’s team.
Katherine McKenna, another scientist on the plane, said, “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 telltale coloration before the large dorsal fins on the surface.”
On their seven-hour flight, the scientists also counted 150 whales and dolphins, including fin whales, minke whales, humpback whales, and bottlenose dolphins.
Just a day later, the crew of a sport-fishing boat saw another orca off Provincetown on Cape Cod. O’Brien said it probably was Old Thom, who was first seen off Cape Cod in 2016 and then was spotted over the years swimming in the Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy. Old Thom was last spotted near the Cape last year. O’Brien said he’s the only killer whale seen regularly in the North Atlantic.
On the other side of the Atlantic, orcas have been making news in the past year or so by attacking boats, usually sailboats, near Gibraltar and the Iberian peninsula. Scientists are not exactly sure why the attacks occur. Read more:
