Earlier in December, an white bottlenose dolphin was spotted off the coast of Florida. A volunteer named Danielle Carter shot the video above off of Florida’s east coast. According to Weather.com, there have only been fifteen sightings of albino dolphins in the last 50 years.
The NOAA reports that an albino bottlenose was photographed in June of 2007 in an estuary in Louisiana. Since then, the NOAA has only received three verifiable sightings of the dolphin–all in 2007, and all in Louisiana. Prior to that, there were only two other sightings in the Gulf of Mexico. The first was in 1994, when an albino dolphin was spotted in a group of 4-5 other dolphins. It was observed for less than an hour, and hasn’t been seen since. Then, in 2003, another all white dolphin calf was seen in a large group of dolphins in Galveston, Texas.
Because albino dolphins are so rare, very little is known about them. According to the NOAA, what we do know about them is taken from human albinism–scientists assume it’s a genetic predisposition. Although there are varying degrees of albinism, true albinos are generally thought of as having white or light skin, pink or red eyes, and vision that can be impaired.
