This picture of a rare white orca was taken off the coast of Alaska's Aleutian Islands last month by researchers on a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research ship. Looks like he could use a bleaching. The whale had been spotted years ago but has eluded researchers since.
According to the Jaws-inspired masterpiece Orca (1977) - "The killer whale is one of the most intelligent creatures in the universe. Incredibly, he is the only animal other than man who kills for revenge. He has one mate, and if she is harmed by man, he will hunt down that person with a relentless, terrible vengeance - across seas, across time, across all obstacles." Fascinating!
More (real) info available via the AP.
Life Science
Comments
They say it drinks blood...they say it can't be killed...
Awesome picture.
Posted by: Patrick | March 10, 2008 3:52 PM
... and instead of a mouth, it's got four arses.
Okay, that's probably way too obscure.
Posted by: John Conway | March 10, 2008 8:06 PM
... and it's tail is covered in magnets, so, if you're made of metal, you'll stick to it, and...
Posted by: Darren Naish | March 13, 2008 6:10 AM
A yacht skipper of my acquiantance was singlehandedly delivering a catamaran: he fell asleep on deck and was woken by the boat lurching erractically. Looking over the side, he saw he was being investigated by a large killer whale. When he established it was not an exhaustion-induced hallucination he swears that the creature rolled an eye out of the water and studied his for a while, then swam off.
An otherwise sane man, he is convinced that the whale was committing his face to memory, and it will one day be responsible for his death. I feel a synopsis and three chapters to my agent coming on.
Posted by: Peter McGrath | March 22, 2008 9:16 AM