While Captain Ahab wasnsa国际传媒檛 present, a whale-watching tour did happen to find a white whale close to Nanaimo during an excursion yesterday.

Vancouver Island Whale Watch posted photos on social media after coming across a white orca Tuesday, and Val Watson, a marine naturalist with the Nanaimo-based company on the mid-day tour, said it is not an everyday occurrence.

sa国际传媒淔or the tour we saw humpbacks and on the way back, about five minutes outside of Nanaimo, we came across a pod of orca and within that pod of orca there was a white individual,sa国际传媒� said Watson. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 very rare. The last time it was recorded in our population was about 10 years ago, so itsa国际传媒檚 happened before, but itsa国际传媒檚 very uncommon.sa国际传媒�

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Watson said itsa国际传媒檚 hard to determine whether it was an actual albino and the reasons why it was white, but genetics could be the reason for the orcasa国际传媒檚 complexion.

sa国际传媒淭heresa国际传媒檚 a couple of thoughts to it,sa国际传媒� said Watson. sa国际传媒淣othingsa国际传媒檚 confirmed yet because it takes sampling, that we just donsa国际传媒檛 have access to, so what people are suggesting to us is that itsa国际传媒檚 Chediak-Higashi syndrome, which is a genetic condition that can cause albinism in mammals.sa国际传媒�

As a white orca sighting doesnsa国际传媒檛 happen often, Watson said the tour was abuzz.

sa国际传媒淭here was a ton of excitement,sa国际传媒� said Watson. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 really rare so itsa国际传媒檚 really incredible to get to see it. We werensa国际传媒檛 really expecting to find something like that, so we were definitely excited.sa国际传媒�

reporter@nanaimobulletin.com
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