Rare Orca Sighting Captured By Chatham Photographer

Thursday, August 11, 2005
CAPE COD, MASSACHUSETTS — On almost a daily basis, Chatham resident Tim Voorheis flies his single-engine Cessna out over the waters of the Atlantic, often searching for bluefin tuna but more recently looking for basking sharks as part of a tagging project . A long-time naturalist, he always has his digital camera nearby. He’s seen and photographed a lot of things from his perch high above the cold waters, but he wasn’t quite prepared for what he saw almost two weeks ago about 30 miles east of Nantucket, in the upper reaches of the Great South Channel.

As he flew above a basking shark, he noticed a splash of white water a few miles away.

“I’m always curious,” said Voorheis. “I check everything out.”

What he saw when he arrived over the turbulent water surprised him, even after 18 years of fish spotting, six of them around the Cape. Below were four right whales, “literally piling on top of each other.” That’s not unusual behavior for the animals, especially when mating; but it’s way past mating season. “This was something very different,” he said.

A moment later, the reason for the agitated behavior of the rare cetaceans became clear.

“I saw a flash of white. I said that’s something different,” he said.

What he saw was a pod of orcas, also known as killer whales, surrounding the right whales. They were apparently pursuing the larger animals, swimming underneath and around them. He counted 11 orcas, led by four aggressive, fully grown males. The right whales remained in a tight formation, often putting their heads together in an apparent defensive posture.

Both species are rare, but in different ways. There are only an estimated 350 or so right whales remaining in existence. Many of them spend spring and summer around the Cape.

Orcas as a species are not rare, but they are rarely seen in Cape waters.

According to the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies’ Web site, orcas are seen in local waters “only rarely,” most often in August and September, tied perhaps to bluefin tuna. Almost nothing is known about the populations that do find their way here, the Web site states. Orcas, it notes, are the largest member of the dolphin family and can grow up to 30 feet in length.

“Sightings of orca are sporadic at best,” the Web site states. “Many years may pass between sightings.” Attempts to contact scientists at the center regarding the latest sighting were unsuccessful.

The last orca Voorheis saw in local waters was in the 1970s. Right whales are a familiar species to him, though, and he often photographs them and forwards the pictures to researchers.

“Seeing the two together is very special,” said Voorheis.

He took a number of photos of the two species but after observing them for half an hour, he had to return to his basking shark spotting duties. Voorheis said he forwarded the photos to researchers at the Center for Coastal Studies. The pictures will also figure prominently in a photo lecture he was slated to give at the Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m.

Voorheis, who works with fisherman Bill Chaprales, fished himself for many years in Maine before he realized the advantages of fish spotting. He took up the profession in 1987 and moved to the Cape about six years ago. He and Chaprales are currently developing a Web site, www.gulfofmaineproductions.com, which will feature the hundreds of images of marine wildlife he’s taken over the years. The site is slated to go live in September.

In the years he’s shared his tuna spotting activities with scientific research --- helping with tagging endeavors, such as the basking shark project now underway with noted shark researcher Greg Skomal --- Voorheis has never seen anything like the display he witnessed nearly two weeks ago. He has no doubts that in the right circumstances, a pod of orcas could take down a right whale, though he doesn’t know the fate of the four he observed. Given the right whale’s endangered status, he hopes they were able to fend off the attackers.

Source: The Cape Cod Chronicle