A group of seafaring tourists saw something unusual while whale-watching off the coast of Southern California this week. It was a white orca, or killer whale, that has become somewhat famous in environmentalist circles up and down the Pacific Coast over the last few years.
The orca, a calf nicknamed “Frosty” because of its unusually pale appearance, was seen most recently near Newport Beach. Newport Landing Whale Watching, the tour company that led the whale-watching excursion, shared a Facebook reel on Monday that showed the creature swimming with a pod of several other orcas. The company said the pod included six or seven killer whales seen “offshore,” which usually means 10 or so miles from land.
Frosty has gained a certain level of celebrity since first being seen near Monterey Bay, in Northern California, in 2019, according to the Pacific Whale Watch Association. At the time, Frosty was just a newborn. The whale has since been sighted as far north as British Columbia .