California Man Films Rare White Killer Whale Named the 'Ghost Orca'

A California wildlife filmmaker has captured breath-taking footage of a rare white orca off the coast of Newport Beach.

After sailing over 60 miles, Justin Crapps and his crew mates caught sight of the 3-year-old "ghost orca"—named Frosty—swimming with the rest of his pod.

"I honestly couldn't believe what I was seeing," Crapps told Newsweek. "You could literally see him glowing under the water before he even broke the surface."

Using a DJI drone, Crapps was able to follow the killer whales as they swam past his boat. "Frosty swam next to his mother for most of the time but they rolled and played around just like any other mother and child would," he said. "He even approached our boat and gave us a closer look."

Frosty's unusual coloring is due to a rare genetic mutation that results in the partial loss of biological pigments. This condition, known as leucism, is not the same as albinism, which prevents the body from producing the pigment melanin.

The key physical difference between leucistic individuals and albinos is eye color: leucism does not affect the pigment cells in the eyes, whereas albinos are known to have pink or red eyes due to their exposed blood vessels.

Crapps first heard about the ghost orca through his long-time friend and mentor, Mark Girardeau, who was with him on the expedition.

"We filmed the orcas for three hours and we traveled 60-plus miles from Newport Beach," Crapps said. "We were on the water for a total of 8 hours and we traveled a 130-plus mile round trip."

For Crapps, all of this hard work and dedication was worth it. "Rare encounters like this don't happen every day," he said. "I'd do it again if I could. I honestly felt like a National Geographic explorer. I'm always out filming wild stuff but this was by far the wildest, most adventurous encounter I've ever been on."

Crapps has been working as a wildlife filmmaker for over seven years.

"I love showing people what's out there," he said. "A lot of people have never even seen a whale so I'm blessed to be in this position."

Crapps shared the footage of Frosty the ghost orca to his Instagram page, @jayxlamar, receiving thousands of likes and comments from his enthusiastic followers.

"Bro. I'm. So. Amazed. Favorite animal ever," commented one user.

"Wowww so majestic! Thank you for sharing!!" said another.

Crapps hopes that his work will inspire others to better appreciate and take care of the world around them. "Let's continue to protect our oceans and our precious wildlife," he said. "Keeping it keen and treating our animals with respect is so important."