Whitey moment a rare albino stingray appears in the middle of a huge shoal of the fish swimming in the ocean.
The rare sighting was spotted by marine life photographer Rodrigo Coutinho Martins in an environmental protection area off the coast of Vitoria Island, Brazil, in the South Atlantic.
Drone footage shot by Rodrigo on Wednesday morning, 12th March, shows thousands of migrating rays gathering in the shallows after a journey to warm summer waters.
But in the middle of the shoal one pure white ray shines out from the rest.
Rodrigo explained: “I’ve been looking for stingrays for a month, and last week I found them.
“It was surreal when I put up the drone.”
He added: “The albino ray got caught in a ray of sun and it shone even brighter.
“I tried to follow this albino with the drone but it disappeared between the sand that it was moving around.
“But it was a really fantastic and indescribable moment.”
Experts say rays with albinism, caused by a genetic irregularity, are rare.
Fisheries scientist Jones Santander Neto explained: “The chromatic anomaly is caused by mutations that affect skin pigmentation.
“The stingrays in the video are probably of the species Rhinoptera bonasus, or cownose stingrays.
“They usually migrate towards the south of Brazil between December and April.”
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below. Story By: Clive Goodman, Sub-Editor: Simona Kitanovska, Agency: Newsflash
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