03/11/2008
Rare White Killer Whale Sighted Off Alaska
This is pretty cool. Researchers recently spotted a white killer whale off the coast of Alaska:
"The white killer whale was spotted with its pod about two miles off Kanaga Volcano, part of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, on February 23. At the time, Kodiak-based Oscar Dyson was on a research expedition for NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center, assessing pollock fish stocks near Steller sea lion haulout sites. The white whale is a fish-eating type of killer whale, as were all the killer whales photographed on the expedition. Fish-eating killer whales are the most frequently seen whales around the Aleutian Islands during the summer. The winter sightings represent important evidence that they may be common year-round. Few white killer whales have ever been seen, according to Fearnbach, much less scientifically documented. 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."
I don't know why but I love this stuff. Last month there were two other incidences of white animals that I noticed but didn't have time to post here. This seems like a good occasion to do so. Check out Scotland's white stag and Montana's white moose, AFTER THE JUMP...
In February, a rare white stag was spotted in the Scottish highlands: "The John Muir Trust is now keeping the stag's location secret for fear of poachers. 'To see him amongst the other stags was truly thrilling because he does look like a ghost: you do a double-take,' Trust Partnership Manager Fran Lockhart, who filmed the stag, told Reuters. White stags are seen as a magical and powerful force in many mythologies. The animal's ghostly glow comes from a recessive gene which causes leucism, a condition which reduces the normal brown coloring in hair and skin. They are not albinos, which have red eyes due to lack of pigment."
And also in February, Flickr user Pizzler uploaded a bunch of images of a white moose that was spotted (coincidentally) near Whitefish, Montana which is fairly close to Glacier National Park. A great disguise for the winter, but probably not too easy to hide during the summer months.
Check out all Pizzler's photos here.
Sphere: Related ContentPosted 6:05 PM EST by Andy in Montana, Nature, News | Permalink
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It's a sign of the end of times, smoke it while you got it.
Posted by: davefromtampa | Mar 11, 2008 6:11:39 PM
Geraldine Ferraro hopes you all realize how much harder survival is for these animals.
Posted by: 24play | Mar 11, 2008 6:30:28 PM
Could these rare sightings be due to global warming?
Posted by: Nite in Shining Armour | Mar 11, 2008 8:02:51 PM
racist much,... i joke, i joke.
Posted by: aboutanyboy | Mar 11, 2008 10:03:43 PM
Meese or is it mooses? Tell me now, are they the goofiest looking animals on the face of the earth or what? White or brown. Name one goofier. Tall, white basketball players don't count.
Posted by: Himbo with Highlites | Mar 11, 2008 10:31:34 PM
Japanese whalers spotted nearby. Innuit tribes incensed. "Why can't we all just kill along?"
Posted by: FizziekruntNT | Mar 11, 2008 10:39:16 PM
I'm with you, Andy. I also love this stuff.
Posted by: David | Mar 11, 2008 10:44:47 PM
Call me Ishmael. Some years ago -- never mind how long precisely -- having little or no money in my purse, and nothing in particular to interst me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off —- then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men hi their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.
http://books.google.com/books?id=cyokAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover
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Posted by: sandraon903 | Mar 12, 2008 4:40:27 AM
We used to see an albino deer in the Killington, Vt area years ago that was kept on a farm and put in a barn at night. When there were to many onlookers during hunting season the owner of the farm used to call the police in.
Posted by: z | Mar 12, 2008 8:24:08 AM
Is that you Moby?
Dang, TJC beat me to it.
Platypus and Aardvark are goofy.
Posted by: anon | Mar 12, 2008 2:32:38 PM
I was like, WTF? Wha? This makes no sense! And then I re-read the headline. Which does not, in fact, say, "Barry White Killer Whale Sighted Off Alaska."
Posted by: greg.org | Mar 12, 2008 4:56:56 PM
Ha! That whale's smooth tunes are hypnotizing the entire Pacific.
Posted by: oakling | Mar 12, 2008 6:51:17 PM