The albino Risso's dolphin calf was seen swimming with its pod.
A rare sighting at the Monterey Bay in California, USA, is making quite a splash on the internet. An albino dolphin calf swimming with a pod of dolphins was spotted by a whale watching group in the area. The albino or leucistic calf was first spotted on June 7 and identified as a Risso's dolphin calf. On June 10, Princess Monterey Whale Watching uploaded to their Facebook page stunning pictures of the baby dolphin which stood out in the blue waters of the bay.
Blue Ocean Whale Watch managed to identify the calf as one that was first spotted in 2015, making it about 3-years-old. Photos uploaded by them show the calf first in September 2015 and then again in 2017, where algae growing on it has given it a yellow-ish appearance.
In 2015:
And in 2017:
A video of the calf swimming happily has collected over 19,000 views in just a week:
"Albinism in the wild is incredibly rare, and I believe this is the only known albino Risso's dolphin in the eastern Pacific," says Kate Cummings to
Live Science.
Meanwhile, the sightings have generated quite a buzz on social media. "So beautiful!! I hope it stays safe with the family!" writes one user on Facebook. "Very cool, thanks for sharing," says another.Click for more
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