A rare, pure-white dolphin treated a group of people on a boat tour with a once-in-a-lifetime sighting last week in a Virginia Harbor. The boat captain captured footage of the white dolphin swimming around near the vessel and coming to the surface a few times, giving onlookers a few tantalizing glimpses of its white body.
“Capt. John Shields of Snug Harbor Marina in Chincoteague, Virginia, shared these video clips with us of a rare, pure white dolphin spotted in a pod that was feeding at a sandbar on Friday, Aug. 15,” wrote Chesapeake Bay Media in its YouTube caption. “His tour boat group was lucky enough to spot the white dolphin, which may be albino or leucistic. About two dozen white dolphins like that have been spotted in the world over the last 100 years, making them extremely rare.”
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Leucism is a genetic condition that results in reduced pigmentation of an animal’s skin, feathers, or fur. This is different from albinism, which results in a complete lack of pigment. Without seeing the dolphin’s full body up close, it’s hard to know whether this animal is leucistic or albino. Either way, it’s a special sight.
See the rare white dolphin in a Virginia harbor here:
Header stock image of a white Risso’s dolphin in the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary by Kara Capaldo/Getty Images