No matter how many whales we see season after season, we consider every single encounter with them as a privilege. The opportunity to meet an almost completely white individual, then, turns such privilege into a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

The white Humpback whale that visited us on 16^th April 2022 (photo by Nini Darius)

Humpback whales usually have a dark colour. Interestingly, like other cetaceans in some very rare circumstances one of them is born white due to a genetic mutation and most people think such white individual must be affected by albinism.
In reality, most animals deemed as albinos are in fact leucistic.

ABOVE: the white Humpback whale that visited us on 16^th April 2022 (photo by Nini Darius)

BELOW: a normally pigmented Humpback whale, spotted along with the white individual (photo by Nini Darius)

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ALBINISM AND LEUCISM

Albinism refers to the complete absence of melanin - a range of pigments that determine skin, hair and eye colour in animals. Not only will a true albino have a white or very pale skin, the eyes themselves also appear as red or pink due to the absence of pigment in the blood vessels, thus revealing the colour of blood itself.
Leucism, on the other hand, refers to the incomplete absence of pigment and our 97-98% white Humpback whale falls into this category, where a normal colour of the eyes is maintained.

Another look at the beautiful white Humpback whale (photo by Nini Darius)

The only albino Humpback whale ever observed so far first made it to the news in Australia in 1991. Named Migaloo, it was spotted again in 2017.
Our white Humpback, on the other hand, appears to have been spotted in previous years in Svalbard and off French Guadeloupe. In particular, researchers biopsied it in 2018 and found out that the Migaloo of the Northern hemisphere is a male, which was nicknamed Willow in Norway.

The white Humpback whale that visited us on 16^th April 2022 (photo by Nini Darius)

Animals affected by albinism and leucism may be at disadvantage compared to normally pigmented individuals, due to the following factors:

1. Their skin may sustain more severe damage from UV radiation.
2. Albinism (but not leucism) is often associated with poor sight or blindness.
3. The anomalous colouration may negatively impact mate choice.
4. The white colour may make albino and leucistic animals more obvious to predators.

On a very joyful note, though, both Migaloo and Willow seem to be faring very well and always looked healthy and fully functional!

While here in Pico we see Sperm whales and many other species of cetaceans all year round, spring is the time of the year you should join us to see lots of baleen whales.
The species we see most often are the Blue whale, Fin whale and, of course, the Humpback whale.

As we happily learned over time, here in the Azores it pays off to always expect the unexpected.
You may even be so lucky to spot the next Snow White! 😉