Photo: Samantha Murphy
According to CNN, the whale watchers and tourists aboard anIsland Adventures Whale Watching boatnear Anacortes, Washington, spotted a rare, white orca calf on Saturday.
The grayish-white Bigg’s killer whale was first spotted in November of last year and is believed to be around a year old.
Alethea Leddy
Erin Gless, the lead naturalist at Island Adventures Whale Watching, an eco touring agency, told CNN the whale is not albino, and that experts are unsure how the calf ended up with its unique coloring.
Samantha Murphy
Gless added that whale experts were initially concerned that the young whale’s coloring was linked to poor health, but, since that calf continues to gain weight and grow, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
This is welcomed news, especially to Washington whale watchers, who have witnessed the population of the southern resident killer whales, native to the North American waters in the northeastern part ofPacific Ocean, drastically decline in recent years.
According to recent data from the Center for Whale Research, the southern resident killer whale population is down to just 73 members and is considered “extremely endangered.”
source: people.com
