c/o the Telegraph.co.uk, photo by Erik Rue
c/o the dailymail.co.uk
A pink bottlenose dolphin has been spotted in Lake Calcasieu, an inland saltwater estuary in Louisiana. The animal has red eyes, indicating that its startling color is due to some form of albinism. So far, it doesn’t seem to be overly affected by its coloring, and is, as far as anyone can tell, a healthy, happy young dolphin who just happens to be bright pink.
The striking color might explain how Botos, the amazon river dolphins, ended up pink instead of the usual ranges of grey and blue that most dolphins are. Perhaps a genetic fluke, like this one, propagated through a smaller, restricted population.
The pink dolphin is a new favorite of tourists in the area and has been sighted at least 40 times, but conservationists and biologists warn to leave the creature be. Harassing marine mammals is against the law in the United States, and the dolphin, though exquisite to look at, is no exception.
Wow – that’s really, really pink!
Apparently, baby orcas are naturally pink and black when they’re first born – but that’s a more subtle use of a little blusher, rather than some Disney-esque colour scheme.
I did my PhD on pigmentation stuff, and I can’t help wondering what mutation this dolphin has. It looks like OCA (oculocutaneous albinism) because of the eyes, so it’s not just a case of not making the dark pigment (like red-haired people do) but no pigment at all. I’m guessing it’s a tyrosinase mutation (that causes OCA1), and will wait quietly until a paper comes out. (Someone is going to do some genetics on it, right? RIGHT?)
I hope someone is! I don’t know, though. I haven’t seen anything about it. I want to go grab a sample, though, and find out!
How do you even take a DNA sample of a dolphin? It’s so complicated with all the water!
How do you even take a DNA sample of a dolphin?
From a small raft, usually with a sampling device on the end of a long stick. Of course for some things, there may be other options..
How do you even take a DNA sample of a dolphin?
Well, they do it with blue whales by shooting an arrow-like device which snags out a plug of blubber to take back and doesn’t seem to damage the whale too much… I assume the same sort of thing could be done with a dolphin.
Wow, I love Nature Network. Where else could a cute animal story yield such insightful comments? Musings on the genetic mutation responsible and two methods for collecting cetacean DNA.
Personally, I think this is all an unforeseen side effect of this experimental artwork
LOL What is that?!
And isn’t that bad for the environment? It sounds like they surrounded the islands in fabric… it seems like an ecological no-no
@ Eva – There’s also the mutation in OCA2, which is the human equivalent of the old pink eyed dilution mutation in mice. I wrote a post about this, in the context of Appaloosa horses, on my other blog. It has had the most page views of any of my posts by far … probably because lots of people are interested in Appaloosa horses and their coat patterns.
This might be a little off topic, but all these images of pink and nature reminds me of the pink iguanas on Noah Gray’s blog . But, I have to say, the dolphin’s cuter.
Wonder if it tastes like tuna (just kidding).