What a killer sight.
A massive and potentially legendary orca was spotted cruising off the coast of Montauk Monday in what could be the first sighting off Long Island in decades.
The beast — possibly the famous Old Thom whale known for patrolling the waters off Cape Cod — shocked sailors by sticking its 7-foot dorsal fin above the surface and shooting a spout of seawater from its blowhole.
Incredible video captures the whale’s single, quick surfacing — and its black fin slicing through the blue waves just 10 nautical miles off the influencer haven on Long Island’s South Fork.
“It was just a really impressive animal. I think we all stood in shock and couldn’t believe what we saw and we were screaming at the top of our lungs!” said Discovery Channel superstar Dr. Craig O’Connell, who witnessed the once-in-a-lifetime event.
“It’s kind of like winning the lottery that we actually got to see one.”
O’Connell was at sea with the O’Seas Conservation Foundation’s Shark Camp — a program that teaches high school students how to tag and study the toothy fish.
But all the Jaws were seemingly scared off by the killer whale, one of the few species that make meals of sharks.
The crew guessed that the “enormous alpha male orca” could be the notorious, 30-foot-long Old Thom — who is famous for being the only known killer whale to be regularly sighted in the Gulf of Maine and Cape Cod.
Plus, the Montauk beast was traveling with a sea of dolphins rather than a pod of orcas, behavior for which Old Thom is known.
The orca sighting could be the first off Long Island waters in decades.
“I’ve been working out here for 13 years and we’re out there almost every day in the summer, sometimes for 12 hours a day. We’ve never seen anything like that, so it was a big surprise,” said O’Connell, who is also known as The Shark Doctor.
One of the last known sightings of an orca off Long Island was in 1986, and a killer whale reportedly sank a fishing boat off the coast in 1958 after the fisherman struck it with a harpoon.
The species’ return to Long Island could simply be because it was following food, explained O’Connell.
“We were in an area where there was an abundance of prey. There’s big bluefin tuna around right now. There are smaller marine mammals that they can also feed on. There’s also sharks in the area, so likely it’s prey related,” the Shark Week host said.
“It’s a species that utilizes all waters. We call it circumglobal, so they can be anywhere and the fact that it’s here in Montauk is exciting and definitely unusual, but it’s not something that’s out of the realm of possibility.”
O’Connell, however, warned boaters and fishermen not to rush out to see the whale without taking precautions.
The general federal baseline is 100 yards from whales and engines should be put into neutral when the creatures are nearby, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Read the full article here
