Twitter is rife with speculation that boat-bashing killer whales are 'orcanizing' with dolphins and other sea creatures now
- Orcas have made headlines lately for grouping up and attacking boats.
- But now two separate groups of orcas have been spotted: in New England, and in Monterey Bay.
Twitter is going wild over the idea that pods of killer whales could be organizing and working — both with each other, and with other sea creatures like dolphins.
Several tweets went viral after they commented on recent orca pod sightings off New England and in Monterey Bay.
"They're ORCANIZING," Twitter user Lauren McKenzie wrote in a Tuesday tweet that's been viewed more than 2.8 million times at press time. McKenzie was commenting on a Tuesday news article from 7 News WHDH, titled: "Researchers spot rare sight: Orcas in New England waters, along with dozens of other whales, dolphins."
"If we're living in a simulation then the orcas def got an update and I'm here for it #orcanizing," wrote Twitter user Nimz on Wednesday.
It is unclear if the orcas and dolphins were communicating, or if they just happened to be in the same area.
Orcas have been known to prey on dolphins, though there have been occasional sightings of playful interactions between the two species.
Orcas have also been getting a bad rep lately particularly after some whales started attacking boats off Gibraltar. The orcas have found ways to rip off boat rudders — and one boat captain who was attacked by them twice suspects the pods are getting faster and more efficient with their attacks.
People on the US coast saw at least two major sightings of orca pods over the weekend
Researchers carrying out an aerial survey in New England on Sunday spotted a pod of four killer whales swimming around 40 miles off the shores of Nantucket, Massachusetts. This was the first orca sighting in Massachusetts since May 2022, CNN reported.
"Initially, I could just see two splashes ahead of the plane," Katherine McKenna, a scientist at the New England Aquarium in Boston, told CNN. "As we circled the area, two whales surfaced too quickly to tell what they were. On the third surfacing, we got a nice look and could see the tell-tale coloration before the large dorsal fins broke the surface."
The marine life researchers confirmed to CNN that the pod they spotted off Massachusetts had one adult male and one adult female in it, as well as two juvenile orcas.
On the same day, a massive pod of some 30 orcas was spotted in Monterey Bay, per local TV station KTVU. The huge pod was initially spotted by the Monterey Bay Whale Watch, an organization that takes people on whale-watching trips. Drone footage of the pod sighting was filmed by a photographer named Evan Brodsky.
"It was pure energy and celebration. The little calves were rubbing up against each other--we call those 'cuddle puddles,'" Morgan Quimby, a staff member at the Monterey Bay Whale Watch, told KTVU.