Off the coast of Florida, a scarce albino dolphin was recently observed, drawing the attention of onlookers. Steve Thompson recounted to FOX 35 News that he was admiring the stunning waters of the Gulf of Mexico in Dunedin on April 5th, when he was captivated by the distinct marine mammal.
Thompson stated that while he was trying to film another dolphin on Honeymoon Island, he noticed the white one from the corner of his eye, and decided to capture it on video, which he subsequently shared on social media. “It struck me as peculiar since I had never witnessed one before. It wasn’t until I uploaded the video online that I discovered how rare my sighting was,” Thompson said.
In the previous year, a comparable dolphin named Cherub was spotted in the Clearwater Canal in Florida. Like the dolphin Thompson encountered, Cherub also has hypopigmentation, a genetic condition that causes the skin to appear white rather than the usual grey. “Animals with hypopigmentation are quite rare, and Cherub is the only known hypopigmented animal in the Clearwater area,” stated Hannah Rogers, a rescue biologist at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, as told to Fox News Digital at the time.
Have you ever seen a white dolphin before?
This rare white dolphin was spotted off the coast of Dunedin, Florida. The Clearwater Marine Aquarium says the dolphin may have “hypopigmentation,” which made it turn whiter since birth. pic.twitter.com/wPWNrRbuH7
— AccuWeather (@accuweather) April 18, 2023
