Expert reacts to killer whale sightings off Massachusetts

Despite the ominous nickname, Bay Staters shouldn’t lose sleep over the pod of killer whales recently sighted in Massachusetts’ waters. Because the orca population is sparse and travels through such a large area, sightings are rare, according to Orla O’Brien, an associate research scientist at the New England Aquarium.

“The population in the Northwest Atlantic actually has a very large range. It can stretch from all the way down in the Caribbean up to the Canadian Arctic,” O’Brien told Boston 25 News. “So really there are few animals and they have a huge amount of space they could be traveling through, which is these sightings are so few and far between. It was a really exciting day for us.”

The pod of orcas was spotted by a New England aquarium aerial survey team about 40 miles south of Nantucket on Sunday.

While orcas were also spotted last year, O’Brien says species like right whales and humpbacks are much more common sights.

“Killer whales or orcas are seen in New England waters every so often but it’s not unusual because there’s actually a very small population in the Northwest Atlantic and definitely in New England waters,” says O’Brien. “It was a very exciting day for us.”

Despite being called “killers”, there are no verified instances of whale attacks on humans. To protect yourself and the whales, the easiest thing to do is to give them their space, says O’Brien.

“I think what’s important to remember for interacting with whales in the water or in the ocean is just that they can be anywhere and always to be on the lookout and make sure you’re not unintentionally bothering them by getting too close.”

The only killer whale seen regularly in North Atlantic waters is “Old Thom,” a large male orca who is known to swim alone, sometimes alongside dolphins, in the Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy, the Aquarium noted. He was last spotted off Cape Cod in May 2022.

The orcas were among nearly 150 whales and dolphins that the team spotted during the seven-hour flight, including 23 fin whales counting a mother and calf, five minke whales, 62 bottlenose dolphins, and 20 humpback whales bubble feeding, according to the Aquarium.

“We fly our aerial surveys several times a month year-round in the waters south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. While we did see killer whales on that one survey, I don’t expect that we’ll see them again,” O’Brien told Boston 25 News.

1 of 5