Tony summoned me excitedly on the second day of our whale watching trip to De Kelders, to tell me that he’d seen a white whale calf. I was skeptical, until I spotted the little chap myself. Apparently about 4% of southern right whale calves are born with these markings (they are not albinos – you can see that they do have pigmented areas) owing to genetic variation. All, or most, of these white calves are male.
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m75R5TfavrM&w=540″]
As they get older they darken to a brindle colour, perhaps something like the whale in the second picture in this newsletter. Be patient – the little chap surfaces about 25-30 seconds into the video.
