Is Anyone Else Seeing Pink Animals?

Earlier this month we got a glimpse of the first ever (to surface) pink bottle nose dolphin living in Lake Calcasieu, north of the Gulf of Mexico.

"It (is) absolutely, stunningly pink. It's the same color throughout the whole body and it looks like it just came out of a paint booth," states charter boat captain Erik Rue, who first photographed the animal. And when looking at the pictures there is no denying it. The immature dolphin looks as if someone had photoshopped him to be that color. I promise I had nothing to do with it.

Just this past weekend another animal surfaced in Botswana Africa that shares the dolphins likeness; a pink elephant calf.
Mike Holding of BBC, who first spotted the pink calf said that, "We only saw it for a couple of minutes as the herd crossed the river. This was a really exciting moment for everyone in camp. We knew it was a rare sighting; no one could believe their eyes."

Both the elephant and the dolphin carry the very rare albino gene. Albino means that the skin, hair and eyes cannot carry any color pigment and, depending on the species, the result is pink. You might recognize the albino gene in mice, where they are all white with red eyes.
The BBC has little hope for the pink elephant, "Surviving this very rare phenomenon is very difficult in the harsh African bush. The blaring sun may cause blindness and skin problems."

But I wouldn't give up on the little guy just yet because there was little hope for the young dolphin who seems to be adapting just fine.
"Surprisingly, it does not appear to be drastically affected by the environment or sunlight as might be expected considering its condition. Although, it tends to remain below the surface a little more then the others in the pod."

BBC: Pink Elephant. Telegraph UK: Pink Dolphin.