A large number of whales visiting the waters off New England included an uncommon sighting of an orca eating a tuna and an unusually large group of an endangered species of whale, scientists said. A research flight made 161 sightings of seven different species of whale on May 25 south of Martha’s Vineyard and southeast of Nantucket, officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday. The sightings included 93 of sei whales, and that is one of the highest concentrations of the rare whale during a single flight, the agency said.
Other highlights included two orcas - an uncommon sight off New England - one of which was toting the unlucky tuna in its mouth, NOAA said. There were also endangered North Atlantic right whales as well as humpback, fin, minke and sperm whales, the agency said. The sightings do not necessarily represent 161 individual whales, because observers could be sighting the same animal more than once, said Teri Frady, the chief of research communications for the NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center.
However, the observers clearly reported “a lot of whales,” Frady said. “It is not unusual that there are a lot of whales in the area this time of year. But since we do not survey every day, or in the same areas every time we fly, catching such a large aggregation with such a variety of species on one of our flights is the exception rather than the rule,” Frady said.
Observers logged three sightings of the North Atlantic .
