Floreana Island
An extraordinary sighting made our day today. Early in the morning while cruising with the Zodiacs along the coast of a place known as “La Lobería” near Post office Bay, we observed an albino sea lion! Just at the moment I was answering a question about sea lions I noticed that something was very odd on the black volcanic lava. An unusual yellowish pup was resting close to its mother. Immediately I radioed my fellow Polaris naturalists. I felt a very strange mix of happiness, amazement and relief at the same time. I thought to myself, wow! The albino sea lion is still alive and well in Floreana. Let me explain this fascinating story to you.
On August 9th, 2001 the first visual and photographic report of a newborn albino sea lion pup was made. Scientific reports stated that the baby could have been 24 hours old at that time. To date, the pup is almost eight months old. Albinism is a very interesting genetic pigmentary disorder of vertebrates. In mammals, albinism is produced by the absence of melanin (pigments) in the outer skin cells (melanocytes). Affected individuals show lack pigmentation of the skin, hair and eyes (iris). There are several types of albinism; in this particular case, the albinism is complete: the fur, the epidermis and the eyes have no melanin. The pup presents a beautiful pink nose, earflaps and flippers. In subsequent months after the discovery, the albino pup and its mother were observed around the sea lion colony from time to time. After these occasional sightings, the pup and mom were not seen for an extended period of time. Many people believed the pup died due to its special condition. In fact albinism can be harmful, as the missing pigments protect against sunlight and provides camouflage against potential predators, and in addition, normally albinos have poor vision. But why had the albino sea lion not been sighted for such a long time? The only likely explanation we have is that maybe the pup probably went out to forage at sea with its mother. The foraging periods in sea lions take months in some cases.
Albinism in pinnipeds (sea lions and seals) is extremely rare. According to comments made by Sandie Salazar, a sea lion expert from the Charles Darwin Station, very few reports have been ever registered. One in Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) and one in South American fur seals (Arctocephalus australis) (Ponce de Leon, unpublished). It seems that this unusual sighting could be the only report ever made in the genus Zalophus, which is the genus of the Galapagos sea lions. As a biologist and an animal lover I felt privileged today to witness and to share this report with you. Keep in touch to see how our albino pup is doing!
An extraordinary sighting made our day today. Early in the morning while cruising with the Zodiacs along the coast of a place known as “La Lobería” near Post office Bay, we observed an albino sea lion! Just at the moment I was answering a question about sea lions I noticed that something was very odd on the black volcanic lava. An unusual yellowish pup was resting close to its mother. Immediately I radioed my fellow Polaris naturalists. I felt a very strange mix of happiness, amazement and relief at the same time. I thought to myself, wow! The albino sea lion is still alive and well in Floreana. Let me explain this fascinating story to you.
On August 9th, 2001 the first visual and photographic report of a newborn albino sea lion pup was made. Scientific reports stated that the baby could have been 24 hours old at that time. To date, the pup is almost eight months old. Albinism is a very interesting genetic pigmentary disorder of vertebrates. In mammals, albinism is produced by the absence of melanin (pigments) in the outer skin cells (melanocytes). Affected individuals show lack pigmentation of the skin, hair and eyes (iris). There are several types of albinism; in this particular case, the albinism is complete: the fur, the epidermis and the eyes have no melanin. The pup presents a beautiful pink nose, earflaps and flippers. In subsequent months after the discovery, the albino pup and its mother were observed around the sea lion colony from time to time. After these occasional sightings, the pup and mom were not seen for an extended period of time. Many people believed the pup died due to its special condition. In fact albinism can be harmful, as the missing pigments protect against sunlight and provides camouflage against potential predators, and in addition, normally albinos have poor vision. But why had the albino sea lion not been sighted for such a long time? The only likely explanation we have is that maybe the pup probably went out to forage at sea with its mother. The foraging periods in sea lions take months in some cases.
Albinism in pinnipeds (sea lions and seals) is extremely rare. According to comments made by Sandie Salazar, a sea lion expert from the Charles Darwin Station, very few reports have been ever registered. One in Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) and one in South American fur seals (Arctocephalus australis) (Ponce de Leon, unpublished). It seems that this unusual sighting could be the only report ever made in the genus Zalophus, which is the genus of the Galapagos sea lions. As a biologist and an animal lover I felt privileged today to witness and to share this report with you. Keep in touch to see how our albino pup is doing!