TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A whale watching tourism company in Yilan shared footage of a rare white dolphin recorded on Sunday.
A 25-second clip shared by the Whale Travel company shows an albino spinner dolphin, most likely a juvenile, swimming happily with its pod in the clear water, only briefly breaching the surface. The footage was recorded near Wushi Harbor on Taiwan’s northeast coast.
The tour operator that shared the post, Lin Cheng-liao (林正浩), said it was the first time in 10 years he had spotted a white dolphin in person, per UDN. Members of the tour group can be heard cheering in the video after noticing the rare animal.
While spotting them near shore is extremely rare, a 2024 study by the Ocean Conservation Association estimated that Taiwan’s coastal waters are home to around 50 adult albino dolphins. The study found that the population appeared to be increasing, which may make Taiwan one of the best habitats in the world for spotting white dolphins.
The Taiwan Coast Guard launched a white dolphin monitoring program in 2019. However, the majority of the population was recorded along Taiwan’s west coast in waters south of Changhua, making Sunday’s sighting in the northeast even more remarkable.