Spotting Pink Dolphins in the Louisiana River
The animals may be albino bottlenose dolphins, one of which may be “Pinky,” a creature who was originally sighted in the region in 2007.
Last week, while out fishing in a Louisiana channel, Thurman Gustin, a native of Houston, and his spouse noticed something unexpected in the water: two amazing pink dolphins.
Gustin says, “We were both freaking out,” to McClatchy News’ Madeline List. We said, “Oh my god, it’s so beautiful.” I had no idea that there was a pink dolphin species.
He brought out his phone, stopped the boat, and began filming right once, albeit he was only able to get a good picture of the bigger of the two dolphins.
He told Fox 35 Orlando’s Dani Medina, “I have never seen anything like it and just wanted to save the memories.”
Although pink by nature, Amazon river dolphins are endemic to South America; these two oceanic species were most likely albinistic bottlenose dolphins.
Changes to genes impacting melanin production are the cause of albinism. Animals that lack melanin, the pigment that determines the color of their eyes, skin, and fur, frequently seem white. However, albino dolphins seem pink because blood vessels are visible through their white skin. Albinos can have the trait in any animal kingdom, although they frequently face challenges to thriving in the wild, such as low vision. Humans are affected by it as well; in the US, one in every 18,000 to 20,000 persons gets the illness.
The dolphin that was recently seen on camera may have been “Pinky,” a bubblegum-colored cetacean that has been swimming in the waters close to the Gulf of Mexico for almost 16 years, according to local rumors. Pinky’s albinism cannot be established without genetic testing, marine mammal biologist Dagmar Fertl told KHOU in 2017. However, Greg Barsh, a researcher on the genetics of color variation, informed Nicole Mortillaro of Global News in 2015 that her reddish eyes are “the hallmark” of the condition.
This time, the Cameron Parish in Louisiana—which is next to the Gulf of Mexico—saw the sighting of the pink dolphins. The nonprofit organization that supports marine mammal rehabilitation, Audubon Coastal Wildlife Network, claims in an email to USA TODAY’s Saman Shafiq that Pinky is a “well-known resident of that area and is often seen in those waters.”
Pinky’s progeny might have been the second dolphin. Pinky was observed mating with multiple male dolphins in 2016. It was unknown at the time if her offspring would likewise be pink because her partner would have to have the albinism gene. The dolphin would only have a 50% probability of giving birth to a pink calf even in that situation.
Though she was unable to catch a video of the two pink dolphins playing together, a woman reported seeing them in the Calcasieu Ship Channel in 2017. Then, in 2018, a video of two vividly pink dolphins swimming beside a ship in the channel was captured. In a Facebook poll at the time, viewers of the Louisiana television station KATC chose the name of the second dolphin. Most suggested calling it “Brain,” a reference to the animated series “Pinky and the Brain.”
Only two other albino dolphins have been sighted in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (one in 1994 and one in 2003). They were both entirely white in tone.
“I fish every single day,” Gustin says. “I visited Louisiana three times this year. I was incredibly fortunate to spot one of them, as they are extremely rare. Individuals who have lived there their entire lives have never witnessed anything like this.
