Mythic Great White Whale Caught On Camera

Mythic creature caught on comera

The white killer whale spotted in Alaska's Aleutian Islands sent researchers and the ship's crew scrambling for their cameras.

The nearly mythic creature was real after all.

"I had heard about this whale, but we had never been able to find it," said Holly Fearnbach, a research biologist with the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle who photographed the rarity. "It was quite neat to find it."

The whale was spotted in February while scientists aboard the Oscar Dyson, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research ship, were conducting an acoustic survey of pollock near Steller sea lion haul-out sites.

That's it? Where are all these pictures they snapped?

Furthermore, why in the world would a science vessel not have a video camera on board?

Here are some more pictures. Great find man. Means no0thing but cool to see heh. His Fin seems much larger than the other whales near by. He probably ate some fish from around one of those lost nukes or nuclear subs that are sunk out there.

External Site



[edit on 7-3-2008 by Xeven]

reply to post by Xeven


Thanks! I was a little preoccupied to search but I wish there was some video.

SLPEXE

reply to post by DancedWithWolves
Good find.

Stared and flagged.

Dizzie

Pretty nice.. Just shows how widely spread pigments are..

Nice resolution on the pictures. Unfortunate that there arent any of the head.

UMM...

I didn't know white whales were mythical!






[edit on 7-3-2008 by IMAdamnALIEN]

Looks albino in colour. Can anybody tell me if the 'albino' malfunction in a creature is only mammal related then - hence whales (that whale) also having this white colour?

That's nice. When are people going to accept that other Mythical creatures have been photographed as well? *ahem* Bigfoot?

You see: here's what I don't like. In modern society, we wait until a group of white Americans photographs something before we believe it's real. Meanwhile, there are hundreds (if not thousands) of years of Native American 'legend' etc. which has ALWAYS vouched for the existence of white whales...

Lots of 'mythical' creatures have been common knowledge amongst indigenous peoples all through history, and we act so surprised when we find out that it's actually real. Kind of ... dopey.

Awesome story though, thanks for posting.

[edit on 7-3-2008 by NewWorldOver]

Wow, that really looks amazing. I've been to the Pacific NW before, and been a passenger on multiple ferries, yet the only Orca I've ever seen is Shamu at Sea World. Not that the encounter was not absolutely amazing, it is just that it would be cool to also see them in the wild.

Similar to when I saw Bottlenosed Dolphins at the Aquairum nearby. It was really cool, but when I was in the crystal clear Caribbean on a 40 foot sloop, I was chilling on the Port Side near the bow watching our shadow on the bottom 40 + feet below. Out of nowhere I saw an eyeball looking at me, and sure enough it was a pod of Atlantic Bottlenosed Dolphins. They swam alongside us for quite some time, but the coolest thing ever was when the one turned over on his side and just looked up at me. He kept swimming alongside and just locked on to me, eye-to-eye for a few minutes, and I have to say it was one of the most amazing encounters ever.

Cool post about the White Orca. I wonder if he faces any discrimination?

I believe the one in myths was a Sperm Whale? Much bigger but still with teeth rather than baleen.

The article says this is not an albino but that it is white in the saddle area and the other markings are there, they are just much lighter than usual.

We also have the Beluga Whale up here which is nearly pure white but smaller.

I believe THIS (link to picture) is the one that gave sailors nightmares wasn't it?

reply to post by DancedWithWolves


is this the only pic u have because ifind it hard to believe that this is in fact the great white whale withn out any further evidence however i would like to think that this is indeed real

Speaking of mythical creatures and cryptids, anyone remember this one?

(not white, strictly speaking, but golden)





Congo Bill and Congorilla. Ah, the memories. (1959-60)

© DC Comics. Adventure Comics 274, 279 (Congorilla) (1960)







[edit on 8-3-2008 by Badge01]

reply to post by Arawn


As far as I can tell every creature can exhibit albino traits. There have been albino crocs, fish, people, bids... pretty much anything, though I can't say I've seen a albino turtle (Pretty sure they exist.)

reply to post by NewWorldOver


The difference here is this is a whale with a strange colour pattern. It's known they exist, it's remarkable hard to find however. Bigfoot is a remarkable creature that exists from footprints and video.
Albinos generally don't last long in the wild due to their light colouring, which makes them very easy to spot. I know this isn't a true albino, but the priciple is the same.

Call me Ishmael...

Seemed appropriate for a thread about a white whale.

Cool pictures, too bad no video.

Originally posted by TheAgentNineteen
Wow, that really looks amazing. I've been to the Pacific NW before, and been a passenger on multiple ferries, yet the only Orca I've ever seen is Shamu at Sea World. Not that the encounter was not absolutely amazing, it is just that it would be cool to also see them in the wild.

I live on an Island in Puget Sound and the only way to get off and on is by ferry. I ride the ferries five days a week to work and it’s a rarity to see any Orcas. A co-worker said there were a lot more when he was younger; he used to watch them play in the sound as he was gassing up his car in Gig Harbor (Southern Sound). Most of the Orcas are now near the northern part of sound, and you rarely see any in southern part of the sound near Seattle and Tacoma. This is the first time I ever heard of an albino Orca, good find.

The toxic levels in these poor whales is sky rocketing and it’s a matter of time before they are gone. They tell you shouldn’t eat salmon more then once a week because of all the toxins. All the resident orcas eat is fish, mostly salmon and lots of it every day, so you can imagine all the chemicals they take in, and it gets stored in there blubber: The transient orcas are the only ones that eat seals and sea lions.

For the first time one of our resident pods went all the way to California, they think searching for food. Even though they are some of the most protected animals in the U.S. it seems we cant turn it around. These people are very lucky to sea an albino Orca; we could be the last generation to see and Orca in the wild.

My friend was once lucky enough to see a large pod with babies swimming by the ferry. The whole pod followed the ferry and the babies were breaching and playing almost like they were putting a show on for all the passengers. Everyone was so riveted by the orcas they wouldn’t leave the ferry after it docked. My buddy swears the orcas knew people were watching them and they were putting on a show for everybody.

We once had an orphan orca hanging out in a bay on Vashon Island. It was so lonely is would rub up against boats for company. It got dangerous because it would rub up against moving boats with propellers. They had to dispatch the coast guard to protect the little orca and then it started rubbing against the coast guard vessel. You could go to the dock and it would come up and visit you, and apparently it liked popcorn. My buddy would buy soccer balls from the thrift store and throw them into the bay so the baby would have something to play with. Eventually they captured it and integrated with a new pod and it’s been happy ever since.

Puget Sound is one of the most beautiful places in the entire country with a rich and diverse population of marine life. I will also let you in on a little secret; the Pacific North is one of the best places to be in the entire country during the summer. Almost zero rain fall for three months, 70-80 degree average temperature, clear blue skies, and almost no humidity.

Originally posted by Arawn
Looks albino in colour. Can anybody tell me if the 'albino' malfunction in a creature is only mammal related then - hence whales (that whale) also having this white colour?

Certainly not. Pigmentation is just about any specific material in animals, that gives of a certain color. From human skincolor, to butterflies beautiful colorvariations, its all pigment.

Originally posted by Arawn
Looks albino in colour. Can anybody tell me if the 'albino' malfunction in a creature is only mammal related then - hence whales (that whale) also having this white colour?

no because there are albino reptiles.

huh, looks larger than the rest of the pod...

it's a male, their dorsals grow to 6 feet in height