Lucky Fisherman Encounters Exceptionally Rare Pink Dolphin Off Louisiana Coast
Thurman Gustin was fishing in Louisiana with his girlfriend when they spotted the dolphin, which may be the one locals have nicknamed ‘Pinky.’
It’s not too unusual to see a dolphin while out fishing…unless that dolphin is pink! That’s just what a Houston man spotted on a recent Louisiana fishing trip.
Thurman Gustin was out on the water in West Cove with his girlfriend when he spotted the unusual sight.
“I caught something out of the corner of my eye that I knew shouldn’t be, which was a dolphin that is not the right color,” he said, laughing, during an interview with KHOU 11 executive producer Wiley Post.
Gustin said they both pulled out their phones, just waiting for the rare sight to re-appear.
“And then it just came up pretty close to us and we got the video,” he said. “We’re just so blessed, you know, just to see this. It’s just an amazing creature.”
Gustin posted the video online to a Galveston fishing group, which you can see below.
KHOU 11 saw the video Friday morning and started looking into whether there really are pink dolphins out there. Turns out, it was a question that we answered six years ago! In a 2017 VERIFY report, KHOU 11 anchor Mia Gradney explained how video going viral of a pink dolphin in Louisiana was real.
For that report in 2017, we spoke to marine mammal biologist Dagmar Fertl, who told us that pink dolphins do exist.
She said they lack the pigment ‘melanin,’ which is what gives your hair, skin and eyes color.
She also told us back then that this was likely an albino dolphin, though that could only be proven through genetic testing.
We also talked to a hunting and fishing guide in southwest Louisiana, who said he first spotted the pink dolphin a decade earlier.
For Gustin, it was the sight of a lifetime.
“Amazing,” he said. “Just to get to see, I feel like I saw Bigfoot.”
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And he saw it while doing something he’s been doing his whole life.
“My dad taught me how to fish when I could pick up a fishing rod, I’m pretty sure of it,” he said. “But I lost my dad when I was 14. And so fishing, I always feel like I’m with my dad when I go fishing.”
