A rare white orca calf has been spotted off the coast of southern California.

"It's already rare to see orcas in this area, yet alone a white one," said filmer Mark Girardeau, an experienced drone pilot and wildlife photographer based in Orange County.

This orca. nicknamed Frosty, is thought to have a condition known as leucism, which is a lack of pigment. The orca was born like this and is one of only a few in the world with this condition.

This pod of killer whales is known by researchers as the CA216 pod, which are a transient type of orca seen between Mexico and Canada. This leucistic orca is likely around four years old.

The rare sight was captured on Sunday, April 23. Girardeau was riding with whale watching tour agency Newport Coastal Adventure, who operate out of Newport Beach.

In a Facebook post, the group wrote: "Sunday [April 23] was a scramble to see the ocean’s biggest celebrities: Killer Whales! On just a few hours notice, we loaded three boats for a special trip and drove 50 miles before we finally found the CA216 pod. One of the youngest members of this family is “Frosty”, named for the unusually light skin as the result of a rare genetic condition.

"We were lucky enough to be treated to a few close passes by the Killer Whales, including this one. Killer Whales are actually the world’s largest dolphin, and often exhibit curiosity around floating objects…boats with cheering people included!"

A rare sight of a white killer whale was spotted off Southern California. It's already rare to see orcas in this area yet alone a white one. This orca has what's called leucism which is a lack of pigment, the orca was born like this and is one of only a few in the world with this condition. This pod of killer whales is known by researchers as the CA216's which are a transient type of orca seen between Mexico and Canada. This leucistic orca is likely around 4 years old. Viewed while aboard Newport Coastal Adventure, a whale watching tour out of Newport Beach, CA.


In storyline, we can write something like:

Filmer Mark Girardeau, an experienced wildlife photographer based in Orange County, told Newsflare ...

Girardeau was riding with whale watching tour agency Newport Coastal Adventure.