Killer whales sighted off Kaua'i

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser KauaÎi Bureau

PORT ALLEN, Kaua'i — Tourists on a boat tour near Ni'ihau last week reportedly watched a rare sight in Hawai'i — a pod of killer whales attacking and eating a small whale or large dolphin.

The orcas jointly fed on the mammal, leaving a huge blood trail in the water.

Photographs taken by Blue Dolphin Charters Capt. Drake Hughes were said to show the discolored water and characteristic coloration and tall dorsal fins that mark killer whales, members of the dolphin family.

"From the different descriptions from people on the boat, you could see clearly that they were eating something, probably a dolphin or a small whale," said Ray Frechette, the firm's marketing manager.

While there have been isolated reports in Hawaiian waters of killer whales, known to science as Orcinus orca, they are exceedingly uncommon, said Margaret Dupree, protected species coordinator for the National Marine Fisheries Service in Honolulu.

She said previous reports on file include an orca stranding on the Big Island in 1950, sightings off Wai'anae in 1978 and Kaua'i in 1979, and reports of killer whales feeding on pilot whales off Wai'anae in the early 1990s.

The orca is the largest member of the dolphin family, with a distinctive white underside and side patches on a glossy black background.

They are most commonly found in cold coastal waters, where they feed on fish, squid, seals, sea lions, birds, dolphins and whales.