Successful rescue of orca (<i>Orcinus orca</i>) in Venezuela: first mass stranding event in the Wider Caribbean Region

Abstract In the Caribbean Sea, orcas ( Orcinus orca , also known as killer whales) are present throughout the year. The most recent review confirmed seven strandings of the species in the Caribbean Sea in the period May 1851 to January 2023, all of which were single strandings and only one of which occurred in Venezuela. In this publication we document the circumstances of the successful rescue, by local fishers and authorities, of seven orcas that stranded in August 2023 on the coast of the State of Sucre, north-eastern Venezuela. Worldwide, this is only the second mass stranding of the species within the tropics (23.5°N to 23.5°S). We also documented the presence of a probable whalesucker ( Remora australis ) on a juvenile orca. The present case represents the first mass stranding event of orcas in Venezuela and the Caribbean Sea and only the second in a tropical location worldwide.