Joe Kahlo
There’s currently a large white whale swimming just off the Seattle coast, and nobody knows why
This beluga whale was spotted in the Puget Sound (body of water near Seattle) for the first time in over 80 years
The social creature’s very rare’ appearance was especially odd as it was found alone, far away from any others of its kind.
Scientists were left baffled as Puget Sound is around 1,500 miles away from the next closest beluga population in Cook Inlet, Alaska.
The white whale was first reported and documented by Jason Rogers last week who filmed it swimming about 30 miles south of Seattle.
Talking to Live Science, Rogers said: “It was a surreal experience, to be sure. Sailing in Commencement Bay was the last place we thought we would see a whale, much less a beluga! There it was, swimming along peacefully, although it really felt out of place.”
It was even spotted around three different shipyards in the area, “I don’t understand the attraction of a shipyard to a beluga,” said Howard Garrett, co-founder of the Orca Network.
So why was this Beluga all on its own, so far away from home?
“Until we have some indication, my default theory is that this whale just decided to go out walking, go explore,” Garrett said.
“It wanted to travel. It’s highly unusual, but every now and then it happens with different [beluga] populations. So, it’s not totally unprecedented, but definitely very rare.”
