Extremely rare WHITE sperm whale like the kind immortalised in Melville novel is spotted off Jamaica

An extremely rare white sperm whale, the kind which inspired the legendary Moby Dick, has been spotted in the waters off of Jamaica. 

Video footage has captured the moment that the ultra rare, all-white animal – which is around 30ft in length – partially emerged from the depths.

The video, which clearly shows the animal spouting water from its blowhole, was recorded by Leo van Toly from a Dutch merchant vessel off the Caribbean island of Jamaica.

It was later shared by conservation group SOS Dolphin Foundation which described the sighting as ‘special’.

Leo van Toly, who had been sailing on a Dutch merchant vessel off the coast of Jamaica, recorded as a spout of water was visibly blown into the air by a rare white sperm whale through its blowhole

Only the top of the sperm whale could be seen by the shocked witnesses, making it difficult to tell whether the white animal was in fact albino – as the distinctive pink eyes could not be seen

Albino whales are easy to identify by their distinctive pink eyes, but because the video footage was recorded as such a distance, and the eyes are not visible, it is difficult to 100 per cent confirm that the sperm whale is albino.

Another explanation could be that some whales are known to have a skin condition called leucism, which causes a partial loss of pigmentation in animals, resulting in the white appearance. 

Sightings of albino sperm whales are incredibly rare, with the last recorded previous occasion taking place in 2015 – and 2006 before that. 

An infamous white sperm whale known as Mocha Dick was known to have lived in the Pacific Ocean until the 19th century.

It was this whale that inspired Herman Melville’s Moby Dick – which was published in 1851.

In the novel, Captain Ahab sees one of his legs bitten off by Moby Dick – resulting in him chasing the elusive animal, which can shapeshift in the book, around the world. 

At one point, the sperm whale sent a small amount of water spiraling upwards after firing air out of its blowhole

Sightings of albino sperm whales are incredibly rare, with the last recorded previous occasion taking place in 2015 – and 2006 before that

And more recently, a white humpback whale, named Migaloo, has been known to inhabit waters off the coast of Australia since 1991.

Generally, sperm whales are known to grow to around 60ft in length and possess teeth larger than any other animal.

Typically, they are found to be grey, black or brown in appearance, making sightings of an all white one even more unique.

Sperm whales also have the largest brain of any known animal – allowing them to utilise a variety of dialects when communicating with one another via clicking. 

Expert Hal Whitehead told The Guardian that he’s never seen a sperm whale that was completely white all over.

‘I have seen ones with quite a lot of white on them, usually in patches on and near the belly,’ he added.

Sperm whales (stock image) are normally found to be grey, black or brown in colour and can grow to up to 60ft in length

How Moby-Dick was inspired by real life albino sperm whale 

Helman Melville drew on a number of sources for inspiration when writing Moby-Dick – including his own time working on the whaler ‘Acushnet’.

The character of Moby-Dick was based on two real-life events, the first being the sinking of the Nantucket ship ‘Essex’ in 1820, after a sperm whale rammed her 2,000 miles from the western coast of South America.

The second incident that inspired Melville was the alleged killing of Mocha Dick in the 1930s.

Mocha Dick was an albino sperm whale that lived in the Pacific Ocean until the 19th century – when it was claimed to have been killed off the coast of Mocha, a Chilean island.

Herman Melville’s Moby Dick

It was reported at the time that Mocha Dick had around 20 harpoons lodged in its back from previous attempts to kill the animal.

Mocha Dick was also known to attack ships that came too close, in what some at the time believed were premeditated actions. 

Moby Dick is described in the book as having two prominent areas of white around its forehead and hump.

The rest of the animal’s body is said to be covered in stripes and patches of both white and grey. 

The novel, Moby-Dick is narrated by a character called Ishmael who joins a whaling ship called the ‘Pequod’.

The book examines the obsessive nature with which the whaler’s captain Ahab hunts down Moby Dick, who bit off the captain’s leg during an earlier encounter. 

The book sees Moby Dick and the crew of the Pequod engage in three days of battle, before the animal is able to destroy the ship.

Every character onboard the whaler, aside from Ishmael, is killed in the encounter. 

Some critics believe that Melville’s use of color when describing Moby Dick acts as a critique of slavery in North America at the time.