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Whale watchers got a special treat this month off the coast of Argentina when they spotted a rare white southern right whale. Agustín Baraschi captured spectacular footage of the striking white whale and shared the video to his Instagram page.
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According to NOAA, southern right whales live throughout the Southern Hemisphere, and they migrate between high-latitude feeding areas and low-latitude breeding grounds. These baleen whales typically have “a stocky, black body” with white patches on the chin and belly.
Southern right whales have large heads (often with visible callosities), and they don’t have a dorsal fin. NOAA says they can be up to 56 feet long, weighing up to 176,000 pounds.
Baraschi was lucky enough to see a beautiful “blanquita” swimming next to another southern right whale of typical coloration. The white whale is much smaller than the darker-colored one, possibly indicating it’s a mother/calf pair. The overhead drone footage shows the two whales swimming peacefully, the white whale wiggling around a bit and lifting its tail fin out of the water.
It’s possible the white whale has albinism, or it could have another genetic condition that results in white or light-colored skin, such as leucism.
NOAA says the whaling industry took a toll on southern right whales, and though some populations have recovered, others have not.
“Current threats to southern right whales include entanglement in fishing gear, vessel strikes, industrialization of coastal and marine habitats that can result in habitat degradation, ocean noise, and changes in water conditions and dynamics due to climate change,” NOAA says.
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