Marine researchers spotted the incredibly rare dolphin off the coast of Italy
The mammal, thought to be a male, is good health according to experts
There are only believed to be 20 albino dolphins in the wild
Bottlenose dolphins are normally grey in colour unless there is a mutation
PUBLISHED: 20:22, 27 August 2014 | UPDATED: 10:47, 29 August 2014
Marine researchers in Croatia have revealed how they have found a previously unrecorded albino dolphin, one of only 20 in the world.
The rare mammal - named Albus by the research team - was found in the Mediterranean swimming between Croatia and Italy.
Experts say the dolphin - who they believe to be male - appears to be in good health.
Albus was first spotted in the sea at outskirts of the eastern Italian port city, Ravenna.
A spokeperson for Plavi Svijet, an Croatian environmental organisation, said: 'We have observed an extremely rare albino bottlenose dolphin.
'This appears to be the first albino dolphin spotted not only in the Adriatic Sea, but in the entire Mediterranean.
'Albus was, when we met, with another, normally coloured bottlenose dolphin. Both animals swam and fished, and almost completely ignored us,' they added.
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