Post date: Apr 23, 2012 12:1:7 PM
AT SEA, OFF KAMCHATKA COAST, RUSSIA (FAR EAST RUSSIA ORCA PROJECT) - A group of scientists working in the North Pacific have documented what they believe to be the first-ever sighting of an all-white adult orca whale.
Scientists working off the coast of Russia's Kamchatka have captured video of what they believe to be the first ever adult all-white orca whale sighted in the wild.
Scientists and students from the Russian-American Far East Russia Orca Project (FEROP) spotted the white orca whale, which they've nicknamed 'Iceberg' twice during research projects off the coast of the Bering Island in August 2010.
According to Eric Hoyt, the co-director of FEROP, Iceberg is only the third white orca whale found in the wild since 1970 when a 2 year old white female orca - Chimo - was captured by an aquarium. FEROP has spotted two young white orcas in the wild since its founding in 1999, but Iceberg, according to Hoyt, is the first fully-grown male orca ever found in the wild.
Hoyt identified Iceberg as an adult orca - at least 15-16 years old - by its fully-grown dorsal fin, which can reach over to over 2 metres in adult orca males.
FEROP scientists have speculated that Iceberg could be an albino, but need further tests to confirm their theory. Chima, who died in captivity, suffered from partial albinism and several other medical complications.
They have not seen the whale since the first sighting in 2010, when Iceberg was seen with his fish-eating pod, but are hoping to find the white whale again during research trips this year.
There have been white whale sightings in the past. While Arctic beluga's are naturally white, a white humpback whale nick-named Migaloo has been sighted off the coast of Australia in recent years.