“My legs were shaking …”
Photographer Captures Rare White Orcas Off Japan’s Coast
For nearly two decades, wildlife photographer N. Hayakawa has tracked Japan’s land and sea creatures, capturing their beauty in their natural habitats. But in a career filled with breathtaking encounters, nothing compared to the sight that stunned them last year—a rare white orca gliding through the waters off Rausu, Hokkaido.
“This is the first time I’ve encountered a white orca after 15 years of photographing orcas in Rausu,” Hayakawa wrote on X.
Their hands trembled as they reached for the camera, capturing the ghostly figure among a pod of typically black-and-white whales.
“My legs were shaking as I photographed the white orcas I met for the first time,” Hayakawa shared on Instagram. “[It] looks like a golden-ish cream-colored orca synthesized into a blue sea. I still think it was a dream.”
But it was no dream. Reviewing the photos confirmed that a strikingly pale male orca was indeed swimming among its pod, seemingly unfazed by its rare coloration. Eager to witness the phenomenon again, Hayakawa returned to the same waters shortly after—only to be met with yet another white orca, this time a female.
As they observed the second whale through their lens, Hayakawa noticed a key detail: “The eyes appear black,” they wrote on Instagram. This suggested that the whales were not albino, but instead had leucism—a condition causing partial pigment loss. Unlike albinism, which results in an absence of melanin and pink or red eyes, leucistic animals can retain some coloration, often with darker eyes and faint markings.
Though leucism and albinism can make wild animals more vulnerable by making them stand out, these white orcas appeared fully accepted by their pod. They swam alongside their darker counterparts with no signs of exclusion or struggle.
Over the following days, Hayakawa returned repeatedly, drawn back by the allure of these rare whales. As they continue documenting wildlife across Japan, from the open ocean to the forests where Japanese dwarf flying squirrels leap between trees, one thought lingers—if both a white male and female orca exist in the same pod, could a new generation of white orcas be on the horizon?