A rare albino whale named "Gallon of Milk" was spotted during a yearly whale census off Mexico's Pacific coast. It was a welcomed sight for conservation officials, as this albino female gray whale has not been seen since 2009.
The whale was nicknamed "Gallon of Milk" when it was first spotted as a calf in a 2008-2009 survey conducted by Mexico's National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP). It belonged to an annual count of gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) migrating to the area.
The bright white whale has a condition called albinism, which is a gene mutation that results in a sharp reduction or lack of the skin pigment melanin. With the exception of a pink bottlenose dolphin nicknamed Pinky, albinism is rarely ever seen or documented in marine mammals. This makes "Gallon of Milk" all the more special to the marine scientific community.
This condition has been better documented among land mammals, reptiles and birds, including a one-year-old Masai giraffe named Omo living in Tanzania's Tarangire National Park.
In the recent whale census, "Gallon of Milk" was spotted swimming in waters of the El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve with a small calf in tow. CONANP posted a Facebook video showing the whale and her baby, though it appears that her offspring did not inherit their mother's albino appearance.
CONANP reported that a total of 2,211 gray whales showed up this year in the Ojo de Liebre lagoon of the El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve, the biological landscape of which researchers have been monitoring for 20 years now. Of those individuals, 1,004 are calves born in Mexico.
Monitoring annual gray whale populations -- a highly endangered breed that migrates every year between feeding and breeding sites along the West Coast -- ensures the species' long-term survival. These iconic marine mammals can live for up to 70 years, grow to weigh 40 tons and reach 50 feet in length. They are highly social animals, traveling and foraging in close-knit pods.
Gray whale populations in the western Pacific -- previously thought to be totally wiped out from commercial whaling -- are listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, with a population of only 130 individuals.
A large group of Omura's whales was recently spotted off the coast of Madagascar. These 33-38 foot, warm-water whales were feared extinct prior to sightings in October, and now, twice as many of all previous years of research combined have been documented.
