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Biologists find albino among Brazil dolphins

Photo By Projeto Toninhas/Univille

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian biologists have found an extremely rare example of an albino dolphin among an endangered species that lives off the southern coast of South America.

The research group, based at Univille university in Santa Catarina, said Thursday that it was the first recorded instance of an albino in the pontoporia blainvillei species, a very shy type of dolphin that rarely jumps out of the water. It's known in Brazil as Toninha and in Argentina and Uruguay as the La Plata or Franciscana dolphin.

Camilla Meirelles Sartori, the lead biologist of Project Toninhas, said she first saw the white calf with pinkish fins at the end of October. Her group photographed him in early November.

"We were surprised, shocked," Sartori said. "It's very small, and the color is really different. We didn't know what it was at first."

Sartori said the baby was with an adult, probably its mother. The young live on their mother's milk until they are six months old and remain dependent on the adult until they're a year old.

The species is endangered. Its dolphins have long, thin snouts and get easily tangled in fishing nets. They can drown or die of stress if not quickly released, Sartori said.

Since Herman Melville created the albino whale Moby Dick in 1851, rare albino marine mammals have held a special fascination.

Albinism is the lack of melanin pigments in the body, giving an individual very light or white skin and hair. Little is known about the genetic predisposition in dolphins because it's so unusual.

Sartori said the rarity of the baby spotted by her group only highlights the need to preserve the Bay of Babitonga in the southern Brazil state of Santa Catarina, where this population of endangered dolphins lives.

"Albino animals generally have fewer chances of survival because they have greater chances of being caught by predators," Sartori said. "Here, in this bay, they don't have natural predators. But there is a lot of environmental degradation from two ports, industrial and residential sewage, tourism. This is an another argument for its protection."

source: By JULIANA BARBASSA

Stubb singing "the old song"

Oh! jolly is the gale,
and a joker is a whale,
a' flourishin' his tail -
such a funny, sporty, gamy, jesty, joky, hoky-poky lad, is the Ocean, oh!

The scud all a flyin'
that's his flip only foamin'
when he stirs in the spicin' -
such a funny, sporty, gamy, jesty, joky, hoky-poky lad, is the Ocean, oh!

Thunder splits the ships,
but he only smacks his lips,
a tastin' of his flip -
such a funny, sporty, gamy, jesty, joky, hoky-poky lad, is the Ocean, oh!

Moby Dick, page 473 (Herman Melville)

Whale Fall (after life of a whale)

A very nice video of happenings and importnace of a whale to the ecosystem after its death by Sharon Shattuck


Whale Fall (after life of a whale) from Sharon Shattuck on Vimeo.

Live Chat: Is it Ethical to Study Dolphins in Captivity?

The more researchers learn about the intelligence and sentience of the animals they study, the more they're forced to confront the ethics of keeping these animals in captivity. This has proven especially true with chimpanzees, elephants, and now dolphins. Some researchers argue that dolphins are too smart to be kept in captivity. Others argue that ending captive research will prevent us from learning anything new about the minds of these animals. Where does one draw the line between ethics and knowledge, and is it possible to have both?

Join us for a spirited live chat with researchers on both sides of the issue at 3 p.m. EDT on Thursday, 28 April on this page. You can leave your questions in the comment box below before the chat starts.

source:sciencemag

you can watch the live chat at 9pm in Slovenia (UTC+2)