A rare all-white baby dolphin was seen swimming in the waters along the coast of Florida in the United States recently.
Caitlin Mackey spotted a pod of dolphins swimming near the sea wall at the Clearwater Basin Marina and one of the calves was an all-white baby.?
Dolphins are a common sight in the waters of Florida but this is the first time an all-white dolphin was spotted. It is being guessed that the colour could be caused by albinism, which is a complete loss pigmentation and it is said to happen in mammals in about one out of every 10,000 births.?
Mackey posted on both Instagram and Facebook about the discovery she had made. She wrote that it was an incredible footage of 'our local wildlife'.?
"We see all kinds of dolphins, but never this one," she told?FOX 13.?
She added, "It looked to me that they were hunting near the sea wall, as they normally do. The back caudal fin is deformed, but as you can see, it seemed to be swimming fine."
According to the?National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - an agency that focuses on the conditions of the oceans, major waterways, and the atmosphere, not much is known about such dolphins.
Till now, twenty-one species of whales, dolphins and porpoises have been observed with albinism. Less than 20 albino dolphin sightings have recorded in the Gulf of Mexico.
However, experts are not sure if the baby dolphin spotted in Florida is an albino and the Clearwater Marine Aquarium is working to find out whether the dolphin has albinism.?