Orca known as "Old Thom" seen in rare killer whale sighting off Massachusetts coast
Old Thom has been spotted again. A lone killer whale was seen this weekend in a rare orca sighting off the coast of Massachusetts.
Donna Piraino was fishing for tuna Sunday afternoon in the Stellwagen Bank marine sanctuary, about 14 miles southeast of Gloucester. She captured video of a giant killer whale swimming among a pod of dolphins.
Piraino told WBZ-TV it was an "amazing experience."
"It's an orca!"
"There he is, it's an orca!" she can be heard saying on video. "That's crazy."
The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy confirmed it was a sighting of Old Thom, the only orca regularly seen in North Atlantic waters. The New England Aquarium says the large male killer whale, recognizable by an indent on his tall dorsal fin, is known to swim alone or with dolphins even though orcas typically travel in pods.
"Any sighting of an orca in the Gulf of Maine is rare and very exciting," the aquarium's website says. "Lots of researchers, fishermen, and boaters who spend most of their lives on the water in New England have never seen an orca."
Old Thom was also spotted last summer about 7 miles off Chatham.
Unusual sighting
Seeing a killer whale in New England waters is "always unusual," an aquarium scientist previously told WBZ-TV. Their population is believed to be very small in western North Atlantic waters.
In 2023, four killer whales were seen swimming 40 miles south of Nantucket during an aquarium aerial survey.
Killer whales are the largest member of the dolphin family and wildlife experts say they typically work as a team to catch their prey.