Australia was lucky enough to get a unique visitor off its western coastline when a drone captured the incredibly rare footage of an albino southern right whale swimming with its mother and two others near Point Ann Fitzgerald River National Park.
The calf is believed to be just one of six albinos out of the 3,000 southern right whales who live in the area. Although white now, the calf will probably become a light shade of gray as he grows, said Doug Coughran, a senior wildlife officer with the Department of Parks and Wildlife, according to The Dodo.
Enjoy this rare glimpse of the beautiful pod, in a video brought to us by Parks and Wildlife WA.
"When you look at big populations of different species, this is one that is really down there, clawing its way back from extinction," said Coughran, according to the Daily Mail.
The number of southern right whales has dwindled from 60,000 to just a few thousand due to the over hunting of the whales, which were named right whales because they were "the right whales to hunt." The southern right whale became a protected species in 1935. Since then, the numbers have increased slowly, as they do not breed as frequently as other whales.
"It's spectacular - not something you see very day," Coughran added.
