Rare White Orca Sighting
Recently, off the east coast of Russia, a 'white whale' or an orca was spotted by a group of researchers.
Erich Hoyt, co-director of Far East Russia Orca Project and Research Fellow with Whale and Dolphin Conservation, told the Dodo in an interview that Olga Filatova and other members of his team shot the video during an expedition as part of a humpback whale project.
Read full interview with Hoyt here
Hoyt said white orcas are a rare find, but that this isn’t the first one that's been spotted.
"We have seen one female we call Mama Tanya; a calf; Iceberg the mature male; and now this juvenile," Hoyt said in the interview. "Four white orcas in all over the past seven to eight years."
It’s not yet confirmed by scientists, but some theorize that their white coloring could be caused by albinism, a congenital disorder marked by the absence of pigment in the skin.
Recently, off the east coast of Russia, a 'white whale' or an orca was spotted by a group of researchers.
Erich Hoyt, co-director of Far East Russia Orca Project and Research Fellow with Whale and Dolphin Conservation, told the Dodo in an interview that Olga Filatova and other members of his team shot the video during an expedition as part of a humpback whale project.
Read full interview with Hoyt here
Hoyt said white orcas are a rare find, but that this isn’t the first one that's been spotted.
"We have seen one female we call Mama Tanya; a calf; Iceberg the mature male; and now this juvenile," Hoyt said in the interview. "Four white orcas in all over the past seven to eight years."
It’s not yet confirmed by scientists, but some theorize that their white coloring could be caused by albinism, a congenital disorder marked by the absence of pigment in the skin.
