East coast orca??

S

starcrafttom

Active member
found this on a site I watch pretty close. I did not think that orcas ever made it to the east coast. is this a north atlantic pod?? maybe some euro trash on vacation?? has anyone of you east coasters ever seen a orca out there??

"Nov. 18, 2006
On a family boating trip to Cape Sable, FL on the Gulf of Mexico side we observed 2 Killer Whales. We were just outside of Big Sable Creek about .25 miles when we spotted the two orcas. Moments later a pod of approx. 5 Bottle Nose Dolphins appeared. The Dolphins appeared to be agitated.
After a few minutes 1 killer whale reappeared and the a huge commotion occured. Instantly everything was gone; dolphins and orcas were gone. We fear that one of the dolphins was eaten. This occured during small craft conditions in about 11 feet of water. The time was 3:00 p.m.
Sincerely, Walter R. Hoffman "
 
I think they're pretty much all over. I was told a pod of them went by while I was working a wreck in the Keys, but I never saw them.

Range supposedly in blue:

800px-Cetacea_range_map_Orca.PNG
 
Was it Kiko? The Orca that was kept at Newport Aquarium for a while prior to being moved to Iceland with hopes of later joining a North Atlantic pod?
 
I read that same story, and wondered, since I have never seen an Orca in the Gulf of Mexico. However the Oceanic Orca travel world wide. They apparently are fairly common off Cobia Island (North West tropical Panima). They are found in all of the cold water areas of the world, and oceanic Orca (vs residential Orca, which tend to live in the PNW) migrate in greater patterns.

I found one study which estimated the population of Orca in the Gulf of Mexico to be between 133 and 277--but noted that most of these were seen in the deeper waters and none were reported from 1999 to 2002, so sightings are certainly rare in this area.
 
Steve,
Yes, it was Keiko the Orca that was at the Newport Aquarium in Oregon. (Keiko of "Free Willy" fame had previously been in an aquarium in Mexico). Keiko eventually was flown to Norway where he died of pneumonia on 12/13/2003.

When our daughter was about 5 years old we went to Lincoln City, Oregon for the weekend. We arrived at the hotel after the swimming pool was closed for the evening much to her disappointment. The following morning she wanted to go swimming, but we told her we were going to take a trip. She said, "to where". To which I replied, "to see a friend of yours". She said, "well, does my friend have a pool?". I said, "yes". She zipped back in to the motel room and came out wearing a swim suit. We had her put some clothes on and proceeded to drive south to Newport. After parking in the parking lot and waiting in line for the Newport Aquarium to open, she still hadn't figured out where we were. So, I said look around you at the pictures on the wall. Finally, she made the connection that she was soon to visit "her friend" Keiko.
At that point she became one very exicited young girl!
This was truly one of the "special moments" in all of our lives, seeing her excitement!
 
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