By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Digital Editor

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

A RARE sighting of orcas, also known as killer whales, was recently recorded by scientists off Eleuthera – an encounter that thrilled researchers and renewed concern about the potential effects of industrial noise on marine mammals in Bahamian waters.

Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) researcher Natalie Hodges was conducting a deep sea survey of beaked whales in the Exuma Sound when she and her team encountered three orcas, two of which were later identified as repeat visitors to The Bahamas.

“It was really exciting, very special,” Ms Hodges told The Tribune. “I actually spent a few years living in British Columbia where the orcas are very culturally significant, so yeah, really special to see them over here in The Bahamas. One of the individuals in that sighting is actually from the BMMRO catalogue, first seen here in 1995. So it’s been visiting for over 30 years.”

She said the orcas appeared to be mammal-eating animals, likely feeding on smaller whale species found in the area.

“We do think they may have been engaged in a hunt and it’s typically the mammal-eating ecotype of killer whales that pass through The Bahamas,” she said. “I think all good signs of a healthy, thriving ecosystem — if you have apex predators present within the same region.”

The last orca sighting was documented by CEI researchers in the same area in 2021.

This time, CEI noted one of the animals appeared to be entangled in fishing gear.

“Based on our observations, the animal has been entangled for quite some time and it has embedded itself,” the institute said in a statement. “Even an attempt to remove it at this point would leave the animal with open wounds.”

Ms Hodges said her research focuses on understanding the distribution and habitat use of deep diving toothed whales in the Exuma Sound — one of only two regions in The Bahamas where species such as the Gervais’ beaked whale are reliably observed.

“The focus of my work is trying to better understand patterns in distribution of deep diving toothed whales in Exuma Sound,” she said. “Cape Eleuthera scientists have been documenting sightings of toothed whale species in Exuma Sound for about ten years. I believe it’s 14 different species that have been observed, but my work is focused on actually more comprehensively surveying the region to understand patterns and where the different species are spending more of their time. And then that can be used to predict other potential suitable habitat for them or otherwise maybe identify areas that should be candidate protected areas.”

She said the work has become even more significant given the SpaceX Falcon 9 booster landings in the Exuma Sound, which are expected to continue into 2026.

“The concern with this proposed new activity introducing noise into the sound as a semi enclosed basin,” she said, “is we don’t at the moment have a robust enough baseline understanding of how these animals are using the region. It seems like they show quite high site fidelity to one area, which suggests that’s where they’re getting a high density of prey. So if we’re introducing noise, it means that they can’t tolerate it, it’s above their threshold; are there places within The Bahamas that they could migrate into?”

Ms Hodges said the concern was underscored by a Gervais’ beaked whale stranding in February, one week after a SpaceX booster landing test.

“The landing was in February, and one week later a dead Gervais’ beaked whale was found on a beach in Exuma,” she said. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible for there to be a post mortem on that individual. The carcass was towed out to sea, I believe, to just not attract sharks into the region. So it wasn’t possible to establish cause of death, but the last stranding of a beaked whale in Exuma Sound was in 1968.”

She added: “They’re very rare. On average, maybe for the whole of The Bahamas, one or two events per year. So seven days after the landing event, for one to be in such close proximity, it is concerning.”

Ms Hodges said historic mass strandings of beaked whales in The Bahamas have been linked to naval sonar activity, which has since been recognised by the US Navy.

“So we know locally and also globally, they’re sensitive to anthropogenic noise and noise above their tolerance threshold has resulted in mass stranding events in the past,” she said. “That would be the concern — that as the noise introduced by the landing event goes beyond what they can tolerate comfortably, is it a level of harassment that would drive them out of an area that’s currently providing them with enough food, or would it be at a level that could actually cause a level of discomfort that they rapidly ascend from depth, which can cause decompression related injuries that can lead to death?”

Despite the concern, Ms Hodges said the orca sighting is a reminder of the richness of Bahamian marine life.

“If you have apex predators present,” she said, “that’s always a good indicator that the ecosystem is healthy.”