The discovery of the six-foot, pure white fin was made by scientists during a research cruise off the eastern coast of Russia, near the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Commander Islands in the North Pacific.

"It is a breathtakingly beautiful animal," Eric Hoyt, one of the scientists, told the AFP.

Hoyt leads the Far East Russia Orca Project, the group that made the discovery and has been following orca whales in the area, protected as Russia's largest Marine reserve, for the past 12 years.  The group says it has sighted and catalogued about 1,500 whales so far, but the discovery of the adult male, which they have nicknamed Iceberg, stands out.

"This is the first time we have ever seen an all-white, mature male orca," Hoyt said.