Rare white killer whale is spotted in Aleutian Islands

Photo by H. Fearnbach, NOAA National Marine Mammal Laboratory.

Scientists aboard the NOAA research ship Oscar Dyson experienced a rare sighting Feb. 23, when they came upon a white killer whale swimming with its normal black and white brethren in the Bering Sea.

At the time, the ship's crew was about two miles off Kanaga Volcano, part of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, taking stock of populations of Pollock. The fish is a critical winter food for threatened Steller sea lions.

Holly Fearnbach, a research biologist at NOAA’s National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle, captured photographs of the unusual animal. Few while killer whales have ever been seen, let alone photographed, she said.

To see her pictures in higher resolution, go to Picture 1, Picture 2 and Picture 3.

Doug DeMaster, director of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, said the scientific team has been collecting extensive information despite the stormy winter weather.

“Extraordinary sightings like this white whale are icing on the cake,” he said.

The whale is not a true albino because of darker pigmented areas on its body. A true albino would have a pink eye, but the NOAA vessel did not get close enough for confirmation.

Experts say the white coloration could be the result of Chediak-Higashi Syndrome, an inherited condition of the immune and nervous system.

In any case, the white whale will help other researchers track the group of orcas if it is seen again this year. Scientists will use the photos to decide whether this white whale might have been seen before. Sightings have been reported in the Aleutian Islands, as well as in the Bering Sea and off the Russian Coast.