Unusual killer whale "Old Thom" seen near Boston swimming with dolphins in new video
There's been another sighting of an unusual killer whale in the waters off Massachusetts.
Video posted Monday by Kevin DePersia, known as @drtunafish on Instagram, shows the orca swimming with "a huge pod of dolphins" in the Stellwagen Bank, about 20 miles from Boston. Jeff Blackman, Dan Shannon and John Dentino on the fishing boat Sorry Charlie captured the video.
"Been waiting my entire life to see one," Blackman wrote on Facebook.
Orla O'Brien, a research scientist with the New England Aquarium, confirmed that it is the killer whale known as "Old Thom."
Old Thom the Orca
According to the aquarium, Old Thom is the only orca regularly seen in North Atlantic waters.
Unlike most killer whales that swim in pods, Old Thom is known to swim alone or with dolphins in the Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy. He is recognizable by an indent on his tall dorsal fin.
Old Thom was also seen on video last August about 14 miles southeast of Gloucester, and the summer before when it came up for air seven miles off of Chatham.
Killer whales off New England
The aquarium says killer whale sightings are uncommon in New England waters. In June of 2023, O'Brien said there was an "unreal" sighting of four orcas about 40 miles south of Nantucket.
The orca population is believed to be very small in western North Atlantic waters.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration describes killer whales as "the ocean's top predator." They work together like a pack of wolves to hunt fish, marine mammals and squid.
