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Subscribe to RSSAn all-white, and possibly albino, killer whale has been spotted in seas off eastern Russia, scientists reported Monday, dubbing the adult male "Iceberg."
"In many ways, Iceberg is a symbol of all that is pure, wild and extraordinarily exciting about what is out there in the ocean waiting to be discovered," Erich Hoyt, co-director of the Far East Russia Orca Project, said in a statement. "The challenge is to keep the ocean healthy so that such surprises are always possible."
The researchers, who are studying killer whales in an area that's also seen as an opportunity for oil development, say Iceberg is the first adult, all-white male orca to have been documented.
Young, all-white orcas have been seen before -- including two in Iceberg's pod -- but none has ever been recorded living into adulthood.
Iceberg and his pod of 12 relatives were first spotted off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.
"We have no genetic data" on Iceberg's pod, Hoyt wrote in a blog post Sunday, "but we are hoping to meet them again in summer 2012 and learn more about the phenomenon of white whales, why they occur, what it means and whether Iceberg is a true albino — perhaps we can catch a glimpse of a pink eye — or 'just' one of the most beautiful orcas anyone has ever seen."
E. Lazareva / FEROP via AFP - Getty Images
"Iceberg" travels with his pod near Bering Island off Russia's coast.
The area where Iceberg was first seen is inside Russia's largest marine reserve and the scientists hope it will be expanded to create a "network of reserves."
"Such a call is in response to local overfishing in some areas, and increased oil and gas exploration, which poses a threat to marine mammals from increasing noise levels, ship traffic and potential oil spills," the scientists stated. "As noise levels increase, the ability of whales to communicate over long distances may be compromised."
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Leave a Comment:
Wow, in all its glory!
Waiting for someone to blame it on man made global warming.
WHITE WHALE SPOTTED. Where away ? Sing out, I say!
You better watch out, Russians! Our crazy lawyers will be calling you RACISTS! We, the 99% American People are not aloud FREEDOM OF SPEECH ANYMORE! The lawyers need the money! They don't have anything else to do with their time.
He could have used Micheal Jackson's doctor ....
Wooooooops ....
You guys are funny as heck!!!!! keep it up.....
Not a lot of camaflouge there. Surprised it has survived to adulthood. It must be getting food from other members of its pod.
Are you saying that Iceberg is on Whalefare? That's a pretty bold statement.
"whalefare" literally made me lol!!
I've seen a white whale before......then Rosie's show got cancelled:)
The story may be true, but the image is phony. It's an entry level PShop hack job.
Why give the area. Some nut, looking for a trophy is going to go out there and kill it just for the notoriety.
Amazing.
Wonderful! Nice that they posted a picture and story about it. Now let's wait for the one announcing someone killed it!
You are correct in your assumption..............waiting on the Trump brother to kill and eat it.........Yea right!!
Vladamir Putin is closer. Vlad will rip off his shirt, jump into the middle of the pod and wrestle that white devil into his kayak.
Is Putin the most interesting man in the world?
Isn't this raceist, looking for an all white killer whale?
Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? I have it on good authority he's actually a white self-defense whale. Those seals totally jumped him, man.
It has been foretold...............
Someone contact Al or Jessie for a coment.
The new Black Panther Party will put a million bounty on the whales head.
Don't tell the Japs, they'll want to eat it.
Why do these boards always seem to attract the lowest common denominator of mankind?
JDM,
By making all the lowest common denominator jokes about this whale, who could care less about what opinions we humans may have, we can do so without injuring anyone and relieve pent-up angst. Regardless of our personal feelings or beliefs, we can all have a little fun with no penalty.
On the other hand, I suspect that the Vine would strongly support a visit by Seal Team 6 to anyone harming this whale or his pod. I sincerely hope they are far enough away from the oil explorers to not be affected by the sonic testing. (Sonic testing is exploding a charge deep in the ocean, and using the sound reflectance patterns to identify rock strata. Potentially fatal to whales and porpoises due to the skull and brain structure.) Maybe we all care, but delight in a chance to be a bit of an ass in the spirit of good fun.
Looks like a scene from the NBA
Watch out whale, Obama and the racist white hating blacks of the USA will get you, swim away****
Commence with the race bashing on this whale...it's ok, he's white.
Good Job signing this Animal's death warrant by alerting every poacher on the planet to this creature's existence in addition to where it can be found.
Interestingly enough, there had to be some race talk in this topic, but I could not imagine it otherwise. This country has a lot of pain in the past, but if anything we can all learn from these animals that live together and work together that it is possible for us all to do the same. Animals do not pollute or destroy, a lesson we could learn from them. They do not go around hating each other because they look different on the outside. Under this white killer whale's skin is still a killer whale, but nobody noticed that. The truth is we could all learn a lot by contemplating the good things we see in nature.
Animals do not pollute or destroy? Now you people are just getting silly.
Japan will want to kill it and eat it because it will have some B.S. special powers
Sigh!! You people have GOT to be kidding!!! It's a WHALE for God's sake. Appreciate the story for what it's about...a rare pigmented, beautiful whale, swimming with other beautiful whales. Leave it to depraved humanity to ruin everything that's innocent! Shameful!