RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian biologists have found an extremely rare example of an albino dolphin among an endangered species that lives off the southern coast of South America.
The research group, based at Univille university in Santa Catarina, said Thursday that it was the first recorded instance of an albino in the pontoporia blainvillei species, a very shy type of dolphin that rarely jumps out of the water. It’s known in Brazil as Toninha and in Argentina and Uruguay as the La Plata or Franciscana dolphin.
Camilla Meirelles Sartori, the lead biologist of Project Toninhas, said she first saw the white calf with pinkish fins at the end of October. Her group photographed him in early November.
“We were surprised, shocked,” Sartori said. “It’s very small, and the color is really different. We didn’t know what it was at first.”
Sartori said the baby was with an adult, probably its mother. The young live on their mother’s milk until they are six months old and remain dependent on the adult until they’re a year old.
The species is endangered. Its dolphins have long, thin snouts and get easily tangled in fishing nets. They can drown or die of stress if not quickly released, Sartori said.
Since Herman Melville created the albino whale Moby Dick in 1851, rare albino marine mammals have held a special fascination.
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