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eppur_se_muova

(36,259 posts)
Mon Apr 23, 2012, 02:09 AM Apr 2012

White killer whale adult spotted for first time in wild (BBC)

By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News

Scientists have made what they believe to be the first sighting of an adult white orca, or killer whale.

The adult male, which they have nicknamed Iceberg, was spotted off the coast of Kamchatka in eastern Russia.

It appears to be healthy and leading a normal life in its pod.

White whales of various species are occasionally seen; but the only known white orcas have been young, including one with a rare genetic condition that died in a Canadian aquarium in 1972.

The sightings were made during a research cruise off Kamchatka by a group of Russian scientists and students, co-led by Erich Hoyt, the long-time orca scientist, conservationist and author who is now a senior research fellow with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS).



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more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17783603

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White killer whale adult spotted for first time in wild (BBC) (Original Post) eppur_se_muova Apr 2012 OP
Talk about a great white whale! Moby Dick would be envious.... Liberty Belle Apr 2012 #1
Not very good camouflage... Dead_Parrot Apr 2012 #2
Good one! Sadly. maddiemom Apr 2012 #8
Newt? Scuba Apr 2012 #3
Wow! Nt xchrom Apr 2012 #4
OMEN! Baitball Blogger Apr 2012 #5
WOW! That's quite a vertical stabilazer. pangaia Apr 2012 #6
They're much longer in the males ... eppur_se_muova Apr 2012 #11
Thar she blows! siligut Apr 2012 #7
albino rks306 Apr 2012 #9
Oh, wow! k&r Little Star Apr 2012 #10

eppur_se_muova

(36,259 posts)
11. They're much longer in the males ...
Tue Apr 24, 2012, 11:18 AM
Apr 2012

I saw one at Sea World whose fin was actually curling over at the top ... apparently this has evolved into a secondary sexual characteristic.

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