Casper the friendly dolphin has made yet another appearance inMonterey Bay!
The rare white marine mammal is a Risso’s dolphin. The species is known for its circular face and is commonly found just south of California’s Bay area. First spotted in 2014, marine biologists believe Casper is either albino or leucistic — both cause a loss in pigment in the skin and hair — but no one knows for sure.
Albino animals can be distinguished from leucistic because the former has red eyes, whereas the latter does not. Until someone can glimpse Casper’s eyes — a nearly impossible feat — his exact genetic mutation remains a mystery.
There are only three known all-white Risso’s dolphins in the world, and Casper is one of them.The Monterey Bay Whale Watchcrew have spotted Casper before, first in 2014, and recently caught sight of the famous dolphin swimming among a pod of over 1,000 dolphins on April 25.
“Any day spent in the company of this special individual is a good day in our book,” The Monterey Bay Whale Watch wrote in an April 26Facebook postfeaturing images of the eye-catching white fins peaking out above the water.
Another comment read: “Very excited to see Casper 😀.”
Video footage from Monterey Bay Whale Watch’s most recent run-in with Casper shows the animal swimming smoothly alongside several other dolphins, occasionally breaking the water to glow in the sunshine.
Casper is famous around the world, but he is genuinely a local celebrity.
“Our company was the first to spot Casper in August of 2014 as a calf, so he is likely around nine years old now,” A spokesperson for Monterey Bay Whale Watch toldNewsweekin April. “We were also the ones to determine his sex as male! We see him periodically throughout the year, and he has only been observed here in Monterey Bay!”
source: people.com
