Rare white killer whale nicknamed "Frosty" spotted off California coast

A group of seafaring visitors saw thing different while whale-watching disconnected nan seashore of Southern California this week. It was a achromatic orca, aliases slayer whale, that has go somewhat celebrated successful environmentalist circles up and down nan Pacific Coast complete nan past fewer years.

The orca, a calf nicknamed "Frosty" because of its unusually ray appearance, was seen astir precocious adjacent Newport Beach. Newport Landing Whale Watching, nan circuit institution that led nan whale-watching excursion, shared a Facebook reel on Monday that showed nan animal swimming pinch a pod of respective different orcas. The institution said nan pod included six aliases 7 slayer whales seen "offshore," which usually intends 10 aliases truthful miles from land.

Newport Landing Whale Watching / Facebook

Frosty has gained a definite level of personage since first being seen adjacent Monterey Bay, successful Northern California, successful 2019, according to nan Pacific Whale Watch Association. At nan time, Frosty was conscionable a newborn. The whale has since been sighted arsenic acold northbound as British Columbia. 

Found successful each of nan world's oceans, orcas are a apical marine predator recovered adjacent coasts and successful unfastened seas, according to nan National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They often person particularly agelong lifespans, pinch females surviving betwixt 50 and 90 years and males surviving betwixt 30 and 60 years, truthful they don't mostly scope maturity until their pre-teen aliases teenage years. Experts opportunity Frosty is portion of a transient organization of orcas known arsenic Bigg's slayer whales, which depart from nan behaviors of different orcas that are traditionally portion of either "resident" aliases offshore populations.

Frosty's deficiency of nan emblematic black-and-white coloring of astir slayer whales is "extremely rare," NOAA has said of orcas pinch a akin appearance.

The Oceanic Society, a California-based nonprofit statement focused connected marine conservation, wrote successful 2022 that nan orca was 1 of 5 aliases six known slayer whales that person leucism, an uncommon information that causes a partial nonaccomplishment of pigmentation successful immoderate animals. That leads to nan animal's tegument aliases overgarment fading to look pale, achromatic aliases patchy. In 2020, researchers connected a charter vessel successful Alaska spotted a slayer whale pinch nan aforesaid condition. At nan time, a postgraduate student connected nan vessel said that only 8 leucistic whales had ever been seen anyplace successful nan world.

Leucism is not nan aforesaid arsenic albinism, wherever a familial mutation prevents nan accumulation of melanin, which would springiness an animal its color. Creatures pinch albinism are usually, but not always, wholly achromatic and tin person pinkish aliases reddish eyes. Although experts person chiefly described Frosty arsenic leucistic, immoderate person suggested that nan whale could really person Chediak-Higashi Syndrome, an autoimmune illness that besides depletes pigmentation and, for illustration leucism, is very rare. Another famously achromatic slayer whale, nicknamed Chimo, suffered from Chediak-Higashi Syndrome and died from complications of nan information successful nan early 1970s. A postmortem yet confirmed nan diagnosis.

In:
• Whales
• California
• orca