On July 28 BMMRO researchers were contacted by Jimmy Darville of the Berry Islands, informing them of a pod of killer whales in the area. The killer whales were then found by BMMRO only a few miles from the research centre. The pod consisted of an adult male and what are presumed to be three adult females.

These same four animals were encountered off Rocky Point, just south of Sandy Point, where the research centre is located, last year on July 10 during one of BMMRO's Whale Camps, but unfortunately just missed this years' camp.

Prior to 2009 two of these animals had been sighted four other times since 1995 (please see this abstract, Killer whale (Orcinus orca) occurrence and predation in the Bahamas, presented at the 17th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, Cape Town, South Africa, December 2007. They have been observed feeding on Atlantic spotted dolphins, Fraser's dolphins and dwarf sperm whales in Abaco waters. Interestingly Fraser's dolphins were sighted on the 9 July, and have only been sighted twice before in the Bahamas.

BMMRO stayed with the animals for approximately seven hours but did not observe any feeding behaviour, although they appeared to be in search mode, changing direction throughout the day.

BMMRO thanks Jimmy Darville and all public sighting reports we have received. This information is valuable to our organisation and its mission.