A few days ago, a video of some sport fishermen off the coast of Haina went viral, where killer whales can be seen in open water.
Although it seems like a unique event, it is not the first time that orcas have been reported in Dominican waters. Since the 19th century, occasional orca encounters have been reported on our coasts, mainly between La Romana and Samaná, but they have never been confirmed and documented with images.
On the afternoon of November 5, 2014, Alido Luis Báez was out at sea looking for dolphins, to monitor them for the Dominican Foundation for Marine Studies (Fundemar).
Five nautical miles off the coast of Bayahibe, he documents a small group of killer whales with his smartphone, which would be the first visual evidence of these cetaceans in the Dominican Republic.
In 2009 an Aruba naval sailor photographed killer whales in these waters, which would start the CWOP (Caribbean-wide Orca Project) project in Venezuela and Aruba.
Since 2009 researchers from the Caribbean, North America, and Europe cooperate by collecting information. In addition to the data based on colleagues and scientific literature, there are photos and videos of individuals, mainly sport fishermen, who use social networks to post sightings, which helps researchers permanently follow up in a “citizen science” way.