
Photo: Tym Morsky svet via Roaring Earth
In 2012, we posted about a sighting one of the first adult all white orca whales in the western North Pacific near the Kamchatka Peninsula. The observation was reported by Erich Hoyt, co-founder of the Far East Russia Orca Project. The rare whale was nicknamed Iceberg.
Subsequently, additional white orcas, no fewer than five, and perhaps as many as eight, have been sighted. White orcas are virtually unknown in other oceans. The unusual occurrence of so many white orcas in the region could suggest evidence of inbreeding. Or perhaps not.