CHATHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - A fisherman in Chatham got a rare sight early Monday as he spotted an Orca whale off the Cape.
Boat captain Bruce Peters said he was fishing for tuna when one of his customers spotted the whale’s fin sticking out of the water. The whale was spotted about 11 miles off the coast of Chatham.
Orca whales are a rare sight in New England. Peters said he has been in the area for 20 years and has never seen one before.
“I just kept going the way I was going but he kind of paralleled us and followed us along and we got to watch him for a good five minutes,” said Peters.
Whale researchers from the New England Aquarium confirmed that Peters did indeed see an Orca whale. They believe the whale is “Old Tom,” a male Orca. Old Tom has been spotted several times since 2010 in the Bay of Fundy off the coast of Maine and Canada.
Researchers said Old Tom is one of only 100 Orca whales ever spotted in the northwest Atlantic.
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