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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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the whale is not white its mix but DNA testing proved that you cant take a white person and a black person and make a white person so at the end of the day the whale is black. sorry to say my white brothers but in about 500 years there may not be any white people on the plant. its similiar to the matrix at the end unable to beat the machine keanu took them over from within. sorry but Darwin was right.
Guess "Iceberg" needs to cruise over to the Gulf of Mexico and suck up a little bit of the oil. That should help adjust its complexion.
By the way, is the whale white or white-Hispanic?
WAKE UP AMERICA
Maybe it's a Community Pod Watch Whale. Great pun if I say so myself.
Cool! lets hunt it down and kill it.
Don't get to in ahhh over it,won't be long before some sick discusting prick goes and kills it!
Just the name " All White Killer Whale " condems it to a life of unjust scrutiny by the press.....can we please show this poor mammal just a little bit of sympathy and not draw it into our sick and twisted society ? My God....this innocent creature only knows how to survive and reproduce...like most black people.
Unless white color is naturally selected for being a favorable gene to help an animal thrive in the environment it lives in, "albanism" or rare "all-white" pigmentation is not in the best interest for the animal. 1) they stick out immensily in the environment for hunting and being hunted, 2) it has been documented that because of the abnormal pigmentation, they have very low tolerances for UV light, which can be harmful and cause sunburn, etc.
A major point that should be stressed is that this rarity, is just that. It's rare, because the "white" is a genetic malfunction (It doesn't matter that this pod hasn't been genetically profiled yet, that's only to prove if it's actually albanism). White tigers, white lions, etc are bred for their color, which they should be not be. Their coloring is also a proven result stemming from massive imbreeding in their populations, which allows it to continue. If anything, this whale should not be bred, since it has a genetic defect (it doesn't have to be a result from imbreeding). The reason it lasted this long is that it had been hidden and protected by its pod (neglecting humans). Others that haven't lasted into adulthood succumbed to lack of protection and or just the facts that not every being survives in the first place, be it accident or illness, genetic disorders, etc.
That does not mean that the gene for coloration is white. It means that the gene responsible for black coloration has a defect that inhibits the proper pigmentation to occur, resulting in a "white" color. A similar related circumstance would be graying hairs. It's not a genetic defect from birth, but the hair is unable to successfully pigment itself correctly, resulting in the loss of color, thus, turing "white".
they need to kill this whale so it wont do what the nazis did.
Understand history in order to educate others. The NAZI's took the people who were different by genetic anomalies as well as those whom they didn't want and killed them. Eugenics, removing those judged inferior was a "science" created/promoted by Darwin, Margarite Sanger (founder of planned parenthood. Eugenics was taking place in American Society in the 1920s by mass sterilization programs. Death camps were later instituted by the NAZIs. It is all a sad part of mankind's history.
Leave it alone. It is free. Allow it to stay that way. Please do not interfere. It has a right to enjoy its life, just like we do.
I'm sure the Japanese shipping fleet is on it's way. The Russians should assign a military guard to be on the watch for Japanese whaling ships. By the way when was the white orca first spotted for all we know the Japanese may have already killed it for shark fin soup.
It is a male orca because it has a large dorsal fin.
Boy, does it ever.
dear little changes:
duh like i said i have never been whale watching or shark sightseeing nor was i good about diffrent kinds of whales
so mr smarty pants tell me where else has it been documented. the article states russia only
so you like to put people down like ashly because she may be blonde
you sound like a idiot and must be a guy
you sound like a jerk
Enough trolls here already!, I'll just move on--
All the racial comments aside, that's a pretty big animal in comparison to some of the others in the pod. I've followed and read animal stories my whole life and this is the first instance I've heard of this in orcas. Pretty impressive.
First let me apologize for staying on topic..... when I was watching the video I was hoping they would leave it alone, now I'm concerned that it may become a target for fisherman. If it's really 15 or 16 years old it's done well so far. Such beautiful creatures.
Sorry guys.. That was me going for a dip. One minute i was sleeping on the beach and the next minute these goofball Russians drag me back out to sea. I need a little sun i guess.
There is as much to learn about the Ocean as there is to learn in space. It would be nice to see the same interest in exploring the very depths of our waters as there is in exploring outer space. Just sayin
For Paul, JS in SD, and Aunt: Wouldn't it be great if there were two Comments areas, one for intelligent people who have something to contribute, like us, and the other for these trolls, racists and people who think they're amusing when they show their bigotry, as well as bad grammar and spelling? You hope you might read a contribution with something worth learning, then you get o'really who seems very lonely.
Thuper!
We have a white Hump Back whale that has been cruising up and down our east coast of Australia since 1991...His name is Migaloo the Australian Aboriginal elders named him that...It means "white fella".. ...And every year we fear for him as the Japanese Whalers have threatened to hunt him down. So far he has survived and there is even a baby Migaloo now as well. So hopefully both these beautiful creatures and the Orca are left alone to swim the sea free and without fear from us humans.
I looked this up, very cool, thatks for the info.
They say they are anti-racist. What they are is anti-White.
Anti-racist is a code word for anti-White.
Its all them hoodie-wearing Sperm Whales.
"Iceberg" What a TITANIC mistake!
that is a really cool whale... I wish I could see him in real life...
It is likely that ALL killer whales will live better now if they let it lead
Quick get Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson on the phone. A WHITE whale ???? How dare they exist!!!!!
Sure, we get all excited about a white one. What about all the black ones? Where's the media for those? Al Sharpton, you better get on this!!