Pod of orcas spotted 100 miles east of Fort Pierce
Fishermen find group north of the Bahamas
Eight fishermen, on a fishing trip Sunday morning, ventured into the Atlantic for yellowfin tuna and left with a killer sighting about 100 miles east of Fort Pierce.
The fishermen saw a pod of killer whales, also known as orcas, saw them north of the Bahamas, swimming and blowing water out of their blowholes.
“I’ve seen pilot whales, whale sharks and a few humpback whales but never orca[s],” Jay Charron of Fort Pierce wrote to TCPalm. “This was a first!”
Jay Charron was aboard his brother Alan Charron’s boat, The Corkscrew, when they spotted about four orcas.
“We spotted them the same way you first see any whale,” Jay Charron wrote to TCPalm. “You can see them blowing air/water out their blowholes maybe a mile ahead of the boat.”
Are orca whale sightings in Florida frequent?
It’s not uncommon to see orcas swimming around the Bahamas as they transit from one place to another, according to Jim Moir, chair of the Marine Resources Council.
Orcas typically are found in colder waters — Alaska, Antarctica and Norway — but they also are found in subtropical and tropical waters, according to the National Oceanic and Atmos- pheric Administration.
An orca pod was spotted in July near Key Largo as fishermen were fishing for swordfish, the Pensacola News Journal reported.
What do orcas eat?
Orcas can be classified as either transient or resident.
A transient orca, likely the type spotted near the Bahamas, has an abundant diet consuming seals, dolphins, squids and smaller whales, according to Moir.
A resident orca, typically in the Pacific Northwest, consumes exclusively fish such as salmon, according to NOAA.
Where do orcas migrate?
Whale species tend to follow a regular migration route each year. However, orcas migrate based on the availability of food, according to the American Cetacean Society.
What is an orca’s lifespan?
A male orca’s average lifespan is about 30 years, but they can live up to 60 years, according to NOAA.
Females typically live about 50 years but can live up to 90 years in the wild.
Gianna Montesano is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at gianna.montesano@tcpalm.com, 772-409-1429, or follow her on Twitter @gonthescene.