Two Rare White ‘Leucistic’ Orcas Spotted In Japan

Whale-watchers off the coast of Japan could scarcely believe their eyes after catching sight of two rare white orcas swimming together as part of the same pod. The orcas were observed on July 24 during a whale-watching tour in the Kunashirskiy Strait, a 20-mile stretch of water between Hokkaido and Kunashir’s northern islands.

One of the two seemed older, with significantly darker skin, while the other was younger, with clearly visible scratch marks down its back, according to Mai, a Gojiraiwa-Kanko tour business employee.

She claimed the older whale was originally sighted two years ago, but this is the first time she has seen the younger whale, as well as the first time she has seen them together.

‘It was the best day of my life.’ Two white orcas have been spotted off the coast of Japan for the first time,’ she said.

The pair are not ‘true’ albinos, which is caused by a genetic trait that means the affected animal produces no melanin at all – the compound that gives skin, hair, feathers, and eyes their color.

True albinos will be entirely white with crimson eyes, which are caused by red blood vessels that are normally hidden behind the iris leaking out. Instead, these two whales are likely to be suffering from leucism, a condition in which animals synthesize some melanin but have notably paler skin or skin that is white in spots.

True albinos will be completely white and have red eyes – a color given by the red blood in vessels that are usually hidden behind the iris showing through. While it is not known exactly what effect the leucism has on the lives of the orcas that inherit it, it does make them more visible – potentially hampering their ability to hunt, and attracting unwanted attention from rivals.

It is not clear exactly why they are becoming more common, but scientists theorize that it may be down to dwindling numbers of the whales and is a sign the species is in trouble.

Because the animals left have fewer prospective partners to choose from, genetic variety decreases as a species’ population diminishes. It could exaggerate some qualities that were previously assumed to be genetically unusual, depending on the genes carried by those remaining individuals.

That includes rare genetic disorders that hamper an animal’s ability to survive in the wild, threatening to accelerate the species’ decline. This includes unusual genetic diseases that make it difficult for an animal to live in the wild, potentially hastening the extinction of the species.

The feature, on the other hand, isn’t necessarily harmful. Kermode bears, for example, are normally black but, because to a recessive trait, are increasingly being born white. Scientists have found the trait leads to them catching more fish because salmon find it harder to spot them.