Pink dolphin appears in US lake

[Orion11]

The world's only pink Bottlenose dolphin which was discovered in an inland lake in Loisiana USA,has become such an attraction that conservationist have warned tourist to leave it alone.
Charter boat captain Erik rue , 42, photographed the animal, which is actually an albino , when he began studying it after the mammal first surfaced in Lake Calcasieu, an inland saltwater estuary, north of the Gulf of Mexico in southwestern USA.
Capt rue originally saw the dolphin, which also has reddish eyes, swimming with a pod of four other dolphins, with one appearing to be its mother which never left its side.
He said: "I just happened to see a little pod of dolphins, and I noticed one that was a little lighter.
"It was absolutely stunningly pink.
"I had never seen anything like it. It's the same color throughout the whole body and it looks like it just came out of a paint booth.
"The dolphin appears to be healthy and normal other than its coloration, which is quite beautiful and stunningly pink.
"The mammal is entirely pink from tip to tail and has reddish eyes indicating it's albinism. The skin appears smooth, glossy pink and without flaws.
"I have personally spotted the pink dolphin 40 to 50 times in the time since the original sighting as it has apparently taken up residence with its family in the Calcasieu ship channel.
"As time has passed the young mammal has grown and sometimes ventures away from its mother to feed and play but always remains in the vicinity of the pod.
"Surprisingly, it does not appear to be drastically affected by the environment or sunlight as might be expected considering its condition, although it tends to remain below the surface a little more than the others in the pod."
Regina Asmutis-Silvia, senior biologist with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, said: "I have never seen a dolphin coloured in this way in all my career.
"It is a truly beautiful dolphin but people should be careful, as with any dolphins, to respect it - observe from a distance, limit their time watching, don't chase or harass it
"While this animal looks pink, it is an albino which you can notice in the pink eyes.
"Albinism is a genetic trait and it unclear as to the type of albinism this animal inherited."
A close relation of dolphins, the Amazon River Botos, called pink dolphins, live in South America in the Amazon.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...n-US-lake.html

[Dantheman62]

HaHa I got an email with pictures of this almost two years ago, if this is recent then good to know it's still alive!

[franciejones]

Originally Posted by Dantheman62

HaHa I got an email with pictures of this almost two years ago, if this is recent then good to know it's still alive!

I just checked...the article is from March 2009.... not sure of the pic date.

[Orion11]

yeah, its a new article.

[dagon]

nice post. I had to repost this on my scuba forum. thanks

[Dantheman62]

They must be bored, LOL! here's the article I received.........This extremely rare and beautiful "pink dolphin" was spotted and
photographed by Capt. Erik Rue of Calcasieu Charter Service on June
24th, 2007 during a charter fishing trip on Calcasieu Lake south of Lake
Charles, LA.

It appears to be an uncanny freak of nature, an albino dolphin, with reddish eyes and glossy pink skin. It is small in comparison to the others it is traveling with and appears to be a youngster traveling with mama.
After spotting the beautiful mammal cruising with a pod of four other dolphins, Rue and his guests Randy and Peyton Smith and Greg and Sam Elias of Monroe, LA idled nearby while watching and photographing the unusual sight for more than an hour.


Maybe news travels slow to the UK from here, LOL!

[Jacqui D]

Originally Posted by Dantheman62

They must be bored, LOL! here's the article I received.........This extremely rare and beautiful "pink dolphin" was spotted and
photographed by Capt. Erik Rue of Calcasieu Charter Service on June
24th, 2007 during a charter fishing trip on Calcasieu Lake south of Lake
Charles, LA.

It appears to be an uncanny freak of nature, an albino dolphin, with reddish eyes and glossy pink skin. It is small in comparison to the others it is traveling with and appears to be a youngster traveling with mama.
After spotting the beautiful mammal cruising with a pod of four other dolphins, Rue and his guests Randy and Peyton Smith and Greg and Sam Elias of Monroe, LA idled nearby while watching and photographing the unusual sight for more than an hour.




Maybe news travels slow to the UK from here, LOL!

Yeah very slow Dantheman lol!
Still what a beautiful sight be it that the young dolphin would be fully grown now but still retains it's unusuallity.

[Humble Janitor]

I think it's a symbol of something if it is going to appear now. It probably doesn't appear often anyway but you know how people like to assign an explanation for everything.

[Dantheman62]

It's Edgar Winter!, or was that Johnny Winter?, hmmm it was a long time ago! LOL!

[oceanblue]

That's extraordinarily beautiful !!

For your interest, another "not-too-pink" dolphin species is under threats due to "usual" human activities in Asia.

http://www.theage.com.au/travel/pric...0226-8iwg.html