{"id":43461,"date":"2025-04-23T09:22:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/43461\/"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:22:08","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:22:08","slug":"whale-of-a-surprise-rare-white-orca-makes-a-splash-uk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/43461\/","title":{"rendered":"Whale of a surprise: rare white orca makes a splash | UK | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

“It was the first time in my life I’d seen a white orca. I was desperate to get a shot \u2014 they swim fast and only surface for a moment.”<\/p>\n

Initially the white orca was spotted by another nearby tourist vessel, which radioed Hayakawa\u2019s boat and allowed them to approach.<\/p>\n

The sighting was entirely unexpected, as Hayakawa had not set out that day specifically looking for the rare creature.<\/p>\n

The albino or leucistic orca \u2014 scientists are still unsure which condition affects these rare whales \u2014 is part of a small group of just three white orcas known to have appeared in the region with only five or six known in the world.<\/p>\n

“This photo means so much to me,” Hayakawa said. “I\u2019ve spent over a decade photographing orcas, and this is the first white one I\u2019ve ever seen.<\/p>\n

“I hope as many people as possible get to see it and appreciate how rare and beautiful these animals are.”<\/p>\n

The photos, posted on Hayakawa\u2019s Instagram<\/a>, quickly went viral, but not without scepticism.<\/p>\n

“I received a lot of comments saying it\u2019s fake, that it was made with AI or edited,” Hayakawa admitted. “But it\u2019s real. I was there.”<\/p>\n

For Hayakawa, the moment was the culmination of years of dedication. He began photographing whales<\/a> in 2009 and invested in professional camera equipment the following year.<\/p>\n

Since then, he\u2019s been out on the ocean year after year, chasing glimpses of orcas through his lens.<\/p>\n

This rare white orca is having a whale of a time in the ocean, as it’s splashing frolics were caught on camera by an eagle-eyed onlooker. Freelance nature photographer Noriyuki Hayakawa, 64, was amazed to spot the striking white orca whale – one of only five or six known in existence – off the coast of Rausu, on the Japanese volcanic island of Hokkaido.<\/p>\n

Hayakawa, 64, a freelance snapper based in Sapporo, has spent the past 15 years documenting the majestic orca population around Japan. But nothing prepared him for what he experienced that day on a tourist boat in the icy northern waters as he recalled: “My legs were shaking with excitement.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I started with very basic equipment, but I knew I had to get serious,” he said. “The more time I spent out there, the more I realized how important these moments are \u2014 not just for me, but for everyone who loves nature.”<\/p>\n

To those aspiring to follow in his footsteps, Hayakawa offers heartfelt advice: “There are many great things about continuing for a long time and putting in the effort.<\/p>\n

“Even if you don’t see results right away, the benefits of putting in the time are great.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“It was the first time in my life I’d seen a white orca. I was desperate to get…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43462,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3847],"tags":[2311,6481,24219,2122,24218,24216,24220,70,16,15,24217,1717],"class_list":{"0":"post-43461","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-climate-change","9":"tag-fishing","10":"tag-hokkaido","11":"tag-japan","12":"tag-noriyuki-hayakawa","13":"tag-pacific-ocean","14":"tag-rare-whale-sighting","15":"tag-science","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-white-orca","19":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114386550581082665","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}