Whale watchers encountered a white Risso dolphin off Laguna in southern California.

A video shared over the weekend by the Dana Wharf Whale Watch service shows the white dolphin prominently among 30 to 40 other dolphins, including Risso and bottlenose dolphins. This is the third time it has been observed since 2018, alongside two occurrences in San Diego and Catalina.

According to naturalist Laura Lopez, this particular creature is a case of leucism, which results in a decrease or loss of pigmentation in the skin. Unlike albinism, leukoplakia does not change the color of the eyes and rarely affects an organism’s vision.

The Risso dolphin, also known as the gray dolphin (Grampus griseus), is distributed in tropical and temperate seas around the world. However, their preferred habitat is waters 400 to 1000 m deep beyond the continental shelf.

With an average length of 3 m, with some specimens even reaching 4 m, Grampus griseus is one of the largest dolphin species in existence. They usually live in groups of 10 to 50, but sometimes combine with other groups of dolphins, including parents like bottlenose dolphins, to create “super schools” of up to several thousand individuals.