Distributor of Ideas
Staff

The Inertia

No longer just a legend, just legendary, the pink dolphin, first spotted in Louisiana a decade ago in a lake, is apparently real. And it likes to surf boat wakes. Or any wake or wave for that matter (it just takes a boat wake when it can get it because the surf in the Gulf is inconsistent at best). The video was captured by a woman on a boat traveling from Lake Charles to Hackberry in the Calcasieu Ship Channel.

Dagmar Fertl, a marine biologist, told a local news outlet that these pink dolphins lack pigment, or melanin that gives hair, skin and eyes color. She added that the dolphin is probably an albino but couldn’t confirm that and that the condition has been seen in some 21 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises.

The World Wildlife Federation also references the Amazon River Dolphin, or pink river dolphin, that’s a freshwater species native to much of South America but this sighting hasn’t been associated with that animal.

 
Newsletter

Only the best. We promise.

Contribute

Join our community of contributors.

Apply