Scientists aboard the NOAA research vessel Oscar Dyson in the North Pacific have sighted a rare creature, a white whale, while assessing pollock fish stocks near Steler sea lion haulout sites. According to them the white whale is a fish-eating type of killer whale, as were all the killer whales photographed on the expedition.
They said that these killer whales are the most frequently seen whales around the Aleutian Islands during the summer. Holly Fearnbach, a research biologist at NOAA’s National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle, skillfully photograph the whale’s white fin and back. She told that there were hundreds of killer whales documented around the Aleutian Islands and it was very difficult to spot them.
Alaska Fisheries Science Center director Doug DeMaster said that the research mission was successful in spite of the typical stormy weather. He said that extraordinary sightings like this white whale are icing on the cake. He told that this whale is likely not a true albino because it still has signs of darker pigmented areas on its body. However, because of its prominent coloring, the white whale serves as an indicator for movements of killer whales in the North Pacific.
