The creature is now a local attraction

Mar 3, 2009 13:57 GMT  ·  By

While steering his boat on an inland lake in Louisiana, USA, 42 year-old charter boat captain Erik Rue saw what few had seen before him – a pink dolphin. All the passengers on his boat spotted the magnificent creature too, and someone was quick enough to snap a picture. Although it may look unnatural and out of this world, the dolphin is perfectly healthy and has had no problems in fitting within a larger group.

Authorities are now afraid for the safety of the animal, given the large numbers of tourists that have begun pouring in from all sides. They warn people not to try to feed the dolphin, and have set up information booths, where they can learn why the beautiful creature is pink.

According to scientists, its unusual color is given by the fact that it's an albino. Rue says that even its eyes are red, and that it is swimming in a small pod, with 3 similar dolphins, and a larger one, which would hint at the fact that it's very young and still hanging around its mother.

Lake Calcasieu, where the creature has first been spotted, is located North of the Gulf of Mexico, and is, in fact, an inland saltwater estuary, which offers the perfect cover and protection for creatures such as dolphins, which may be threatened by larger predators living in the open seas.

“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,” Rue adds.

“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,” he points out.

“I have never seen a dolphin colored 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,” Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society senior biologist Regina Asmutis-Silvia concludes.