Rare White Killer Whale Calf Seen Amid Orca Pod

An extremely rare white killer whale calf has been spotted swimming with its orca pod off the coast of California.

The white killer whale—who is known as Frosty—was filmed by whale-watching company Newport Coastal Adventures, while swimming with 6 other orca near Newport Harbour.

The three-year-old orca and its pod are transient killer whales that mainly range from British Columbia to Northern Baja. They spend most of their time off the extended California coastline, but they do not follow any set migration patterns.

Crews from Newport Coastal Adventures were tipped off to the location of this pod by another whale-watching company. On just a few hours notice, they loaded three boats and sailed 50 miles to find the pod.

A video posted by the company, which can be seen here, shows Frosty swimming alongside other orca in the pod, where his unusual white color can be seen vibrantly.

Danny Groves, head of communications at Whale and Dolphin Conservation, told Newsweek: "White orcas would seem not to be outcasts as some people might think. They are completely accepted in their pods."

Mark Girardeau, who works for the company, also posted a video of the sighting. He said on Facebook that this pod has not been seen in the area for three years.

"We watched this pod 8 miles off Malibu before traveling over 60 miles back home at night—dedication! We did get a report from fishermen around San Clemente Island that saw this pod over a week ago too so we knew they were in the area," he said.

The pod occasionally turns up in other parts of the world. They have been sighted as far south as Mexico, and as far North as Canada, according to Girardeau.

Frosty the orca is leucistic, meaning he has a genetic condition that causes his unusual colorings. Leucism is extremely rare in orca.

Luke Rendell, a lecturer in biology at the Sea Mammal Research Unit and the Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution of the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, told Newsweek: "There are multiple reasons such patterns occur but genetics is a large factor. There are also two types and it can be hard to tell them apart."

Rendell compared Frosty to two albino orca that have previously been spotted in Japan.

"Albinism is an almost complete lack of pigment seen in the Japanese pair. There is also leucism, which is what affects Frosty, a partial pigment loss through a development glitch in skin cells. Leucism can therefore have developmental as well as genetic causes."

Erich Hoyt, a research fellow at Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) in the U.K., has previously told Live Science that an estimated 1 in 1000 North Pacific orca have these color variations. However, this is the highest of any population, meaning it is probably a lot rarer.

"Probably there are disadvantages to the affected whale not carrying the evolutionarily-adapted regular pigmentation similar to those faced by albino humans such as reduced solar protection," Rendell said.

The best way to tell albinism and leucism apart is by the color of the eyes. Albino individuals usually have pink eyes, while leucistic individuals' eyes remain dark.

"In general, those with albinism are as healthy as those without, however there can be some associated issues that affect their vision and/or hearing but this is not always the case," Groves said. "Albino or otherwise uniquely-colored creatures can also be subject to increased risk in the wild, for example they will have less camouflage to help them hide from predators. Importantly, one big risk for any white whale or dolphin is the unwanted attention from us! Disturbing whales and dolphins disrupts their natural behaviors and can cause them stress."

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Update 4/26/23, 8:21 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to include quotes from Danny Groves.