MELBOURNE, Fla. (AP) — Wildlife officials say a rare albino dolphin has been spotted in Florida waters.
A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission volunteer captured the white bottlenose dolphin on video Dec. 10 in Brevard County's Indian River Lagoon.
A spokesman for the commission's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute tells Florida Today (http://on.flatoday.com/1xV2WSd) that officials won't release the exact location where the video was shot because they don't want people harassing the dolphin.
The two-minute video shows the marine mammal surfacing several times near the shoreline.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there only have been about a dozen confirmed sightings of albino bottlenose dolphins since 1962. Inherited recessive genes can cause some dolphins, whales and porpoises to lack melanin pigments in their skin, making them lighter in color.
