Another rare white killer whale has been spotted in Nemuro Strait off Rausu in the northeastern part of Japan's northernmost prefecture after the same kind of orca was photographed there in May.

The mammal that was recently filmed is not believed to be the same one that was spotted in May as they have different dorsal fin shapes and body color.

The video was captured at around 2:30 p.m. on July 19 by a guide who was working on board the sightseeing boat Hamanasu about 8 kilometers off the coastline of Rausu, according to a staff member of the operating company. The white killer whale was seen with several common orcas close by the boat.

The animal was also photographed about 10 minutes later by Erika Oki, who was working as a guide on a Shiretoko Nature Cruise sightseeing boat about 7 kilometers northeast from Rausu Fishing Port. Oki confirmed a white killer whale was among a pod of about five regular orcas but the boat could only manage to get as close as about 300 meters from the animals as they were moving fast.

Nemuro Strait is located between the town of Rausu on the Shiretoko Peninsula, designated as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site, and Kunashiri Island, one of the four disputed isles comprising the Northern Territories effectively controlled by Russia.

On May 16, scientists with the University Alliance for Hokkaido Orca Research Project (Uni-HORP) photographed a white killer whale among a pod of about 10 such creatures in the strait, more than 10 kilometers from Rausu. It is very rare to spot a white killer whale near Japan, according to the group.


Masato Hasegawa, a captain with Shiretoko Nature Cruise, said, "The white killer whale found on July 19 is grayish and its dorsal fin is not so large. It seems to be different from the one spotted on May 16."

Scientists have glimpsed a white adult orca, or killer whale, while on a research expedition off the far eastern coast of Russia.

The sighting in waters off the Kamchatka peninsula is believed to be the first time such a whale has been spotted in the wild.

Researchers said the marine mammal, whom they nicknamed Iceberg, was swimming with its mother and siblings, and appeared to be fully accepted by its 12-strong family.

White whales are not unheard of, but only young white orcas are thought to have been recorded by marine conservationists before.

The whale was spotted by a group of scientists on a research cruise co-led by Erich Hoyt of the Far East Russia Orca Project.

"We've seen three white orcas in the past few years, but this is the very first time we've seen a mature animal that is all white," Hoyt told the Guardian.

Hoyt, a senior research fellow at the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, said the whale was last spotted in August 2010. The team is returning to the same waters next month to try to track it down again.

The scientists hope to confirm whether or not Iceberg is an albino by photographing his eyes. "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.

Fully albino orcas can have weak immune systems and die young, but partial albinos can live into adulthood. Iceberg appears to be white all over and, judging by his two-metre dorsal fin, is at least 16 years old, Hoyt said.

"We've photographically identified 1,500 orcas in the region in the past 12 years there," Hoyt said. "If we see any of his pod and he's not there, we'll know he's gone."

During the expedition from May to September, researchers will lower hydrophones into the sea to record the sounds the whales make. There are believed to be three to four "clans" of whales in the waters the team surveyed, each with its own distinctive dialect.
Source