A Russian research ship has spotted an extremely rare white adult orca, or killer whale, off the coast of Kamchatka for the first time in history. The reason for the whale's unusual pigmentation is as yet unexplained.
*The scientists identified the whale by his pure white fin, swimming together with his pod, or family, all of which have the standard black and white coloration.
He has been given the nickname Iceberg, and appears to be behaving normally.
"Iceberg seems to be fully socialized; we know that these fish-eating orcas stay with their mothers for life, and as far as we can see he's right behind his mother with presumably his brothers next to him," said Dr. Erich Hoyt, who co-leads the scientific group that spotted the mammal.


Photo from Russian Orcas Homepage
Iceberg is assumed to be at least 15 years old, judging from the size and shape of his fin. Killer whales, or orcas, can live up to 80 years, though most live around half that time.
Young white orcas have been seen in the wild, but never an adult.
Scientists may conduct a biopsy – extracting a small piece of meat from the whale to find out his genetic make-up – but for now will continue tracking Iceberg’s pod, and simply observing him.
"If we can get a full close-up of the eyes and they are pink, it would confirm Iceberg is an albino, but we don't know much about albinism in orcas," Hoyt said.

Photo from Russian Orcas Homepage

Photo from Russian Orcas Homepage

VIDEO in link: First-ever adult albino killer whale spotted in wild (PHOTOS, VIDEO) — RT

Mike

Big Mike 

Mike

@Big Mike, for some reason this video is not working/playing for me....I tried it on two different browsers and still nothing.

kbit 

@Big Mike, for some reason this video is not working/playing for me....I tried it on two different browsers and still nothing.

Works great here with Chrome and Firefox. Is a stunning video, highly recommended.

A reminder - the ISS is orbiting at 18,000 mph, and makes one orbit about every ~90 minutes.

Mike

Big Mike 

Works great here with Chrome and Firefox. Is a stunning video, highly recommended. A reminder - the ISS is orbiting at 18,000 mph, and makes one orbit about every ~90 minutes. Mike

@Big Mike, I tried it on firefox and in fact am still using it and shut it down and restarted and still nothing......
Actually it's just a black window right now....

kbit 

@Big Mike, I tried it on firefox and in fact am still using it and shut it down and restarted and still nothing...... Actually it's just a black window right now....

Here is the direct link:

Timelapse: EARTHEREAL on Vimeo

Maybe someone else can confirm it is/is not working.

Mike

Big Mike 

Here is the direct link: Timelapse: EARTHEREAL on Vimeo Maybe someone else can confirm it is/is not working. Mike

I guess I will try to reboot my computer....doesn't even work at the link on either browser for some reason.

Big Mike 

Here is the direct link: Timelapse: EARTHEREAL on Vimeo Maybe someone else can confirm it is/is not working. Mike

It's working for me....

Stunning footage!

Works now after rebooting...thanks Mike