There is variation and this would be at an extreme. Hoyt: I suspect with Iceberg it is just the roll of the dice that happens whenever mating occurs. RFE/RL: Are there assumed survival challenges to such animals, whether because they've lost their camouflage, attractiveness as mates, or any other factors? But we are not experts in albinism (only in killer whales), so if we do a paper on albinism we will collaborate with some expert in this field generally with other mammals. Hoyt: The pink eye, absence of pigment, would be characteristic of albinism. RFE/RL: And might different conditions lead to it? (In other words, is there one kind of 'albinism' or is Checiak-Higashi one form among various possible conditions? And how would ascertaining eye color help, as the BBC article suggested?) We hope to get a glimpse of the eye to see if it is pink. We don't even know if he is an albino or partial albino. RFE/RL: What causes such nearly unique coloration? The amazing thing about Iceberg is that he is a mature male so he has survived at least 16 years and is apparently healthy, and not an outcast or anything but travelling with his pod of 13. We have seen two other white young orcas in Russia only in that period. I have worked off the west coast of Canada with killer whales beginning in 1973, and as co-director of the Far East Russia Orca Project since 1999. This the first all-white male killer whale we have found. Now we are heading out in 2 weeks to try to find him and his pod, and do our studies, and so we decided to announce it and release the photos now.

We hoped to get more pictures, video and recordings in 2011 so we kept the photos quiet. RFE/RL: I noticed that in an August 2011 entry there are references to albino orcas, and even to 'a large male encountered in 2010'.Įrich Hoyt: We first saw Iceberg in August 2010 and we have only seen him once since then.

Orca by Erich Hoyt