An ultra-rare penguin with all-white plumage caused by a genetic condition has been spotted in Chilean Antarctica.
The female penguin of the Gentoo species, which typically has mainly black and only some white feathers, was sighted at the Gabriel Gonzalez Videla base earlier this month.
The rare white animal was filmed by Hugo Alejandro Harros Guerra, a photographer, who said he is one of 14 people living in the middle of a colony of gentoo penguins.
‘Every day there is something different to see. Every day Antarctica and this beautiful place surprise us with something different,” he said, adding that the sighting was “extraordinary.”
The unusual white color of the penguins is probably caused by a form of leucistic pigmentation, meaning the feathers lack the black color that penguins are normally associated with.
The white female penguin (pictured) of the Gentoo species, which has mostly black and only some white feathers, was spotted at the Gabriel Gonzalez Videla base earlier this month.
The penguins’ unusual white coloration is likely caused by a form of leucistic pigmentation, meaning the feathers lack the black color that penguins normally associate with
Unfortunately, the penguins’ white color can make it easier for predators to hunt her, as the typical black and white color of the feathers is crucial for penguins when diving for fish.
Leucistic pigmentation – where the color of the feathers is lost – is sometimes caused by trauma, but is more often genetically determined.
The condition differs from albinism because when the bird suffers from leucism, its eyes and beak are normal in color.
Dr. Lucas Kruger, a researcher in the science department of the Chilean Antarctic Institute, told the local newspaper Ladera Sur: ‘Leucism is a genetic variation that can occur in some individuals and affects the production of coloration in the skin, feathers or hair.
‘Here the cells cannot produce some pigments.
‘This occurs naturally and in many cases affects less than one percent of the population.’
Unfortunately, the penguins’ white color can make it easier for predators to hunt her, as the typical black and white color of the feathers is crucial for penguins when diving for fish.
“That is why cases of leucism are also very rare, because in addition to being rare genes that are rarely seen, they are also animals that, in the case of penguins, are very vulnerable to being eaten more easily by a predator,” veterinarian Diego Penaloze told it Animal reader.
In the recently filmed footage, the white penguin can be seen walking among hundreds of penguins, with her white coat clearly sticking out.
In one clip, the female penguin looked directly at Mr Harros Guerra as he filmed her in Antarctica on January 4.
This is not the first time that a gentoo penguin with leucism has been observed in this colony, as Juliana Vianna, biologist and specialist in vertebrate genetics, noted. It could be the same or a relative of the one pictured above
The white penguin stands out among the other normally colored specimens. She could be the same penguin that has been sighted in the colony for eight years
The Gabriel Gonzalez Videla base is located on the Antarctic mainland’s Waterboat Point in Paradise Bay and is home to a colony of gentoo penguins (some pictured)
Leucism differs from albinism because when the bird suffers from leucism, its eyes and beak are normal in color (like the penguin’s beak pictured above)
This is not the first time that a gentoo penguin with leucism has been observed in this colony, as Juliana Vianna, biologist and specialist in vertebrate genetics, noted.
A rare white penguin has been seen in the colony for about eight years – this could be one and the same as the recent sighting or a relative.
Ms Vianna told Ladera Sur: ‘This is super interesting because genetic studies have shown that there is virtually no genetic differentiation in the vast majority of penguins on the Antarctic Peninsula.
‘The only species in which we have seen great genetic differentiation is the donkeys, demonstrating the durability of its individuals in the same colony.’
A visitor claimed to have seen a white penguin he named Isabel during a trip to the base in 2020.
The female white penguin (pictured above) looked directly at Mr Harros Guerra as he filmed her in Antarctica on January 4.
The rare white animal was filmed by Hugo Alejandro Harros Guerra (pictured), a photographer, who said he is one of fourteen people living in the middle of a colony of gentoo penguins.
In the recently filmed footage, the white penguin is among hundreds of penguins at the base
The black spots on the white penguin appear to be wet dirt. Images show dirt particles flying up as the penguin walks around the base
The Gabriel Gonzalez Videla base is located on the Antarctic mainland’s Waterboat Point in Paradise Bay and is named after Chilean President Gabriel Gonzalez Videla, who became the first head of state of a country to visit Antarctica in the 1940s.
The base is now considered inactive, but is used as a museum for tourists during the summer months.
Gentoo penguins are often seen around the base and it is considered their home.
The species is listed as Near Threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, mainly due to significant population declines on the sub-Antarctic islands on which they live.