Extremely rare all-white Gentoo penguin spotted in Antarctica; Here's why it's unique

A photographer has spotted an extremely rare all-white penguin in Chilean Antarctica.

The penguin spotted at the Gabrial Gonzalez Videla Base is a female of the Gentoo species, which typically has black feathers with a few whites, DailyMail reported.

Filmed by photographer Huga Alejandro Harros Guerra, the penguin has an unusual white plumage caused by leucistic pigmentation, a condition in which the feathers lose colour. Although the condition is commonly genetic, trauma can also cause it. It differs from albinism as the penguin's eyes and beak are the usual colour.

Guerra, one of the 14 people living in the middle of a colony of Gentoo penguins, said, "Every day, there is something different to see. Every day, Antarctica and this beautiful place surprise us with something different." He called the sighting of the white Gentoo penguin "extraordinary."

Dr Lucas Kruger, researcher at the Chilean Antarctic Institute, told the newspaper Ladera Sur, "Leucism is a genetic variation that can occur in some individuals, which affects the production of colouration in the skin, feather or hair. Here, the cells are unable to produce some pigments. It occurs naturally and affects less than one per cent of a population."

Although the white colour of the penguin makes it unique, it also makes it easier for the predators to hunt her.

"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 are very exposed, in the case of penguins, to being eaten easily by a predator," veterinarian Diego Penaloze told the Animal Reader.

In the footage captured by Guerra on January 4 in Antarctica, one can easily see the white penguin as it walks among hundreds of others.

It is not the first time someone spotted a white Gentoo penguin in the colony, according to Juliana Vianna, biologist and specialist in vertebrate genetics. About eight years ago, a rare white penguin was spotted in the colony. Experts are guessing that the recent sighting could be the same penguin or a relative.

Gentoo penguins are frequently spotted in the vicinity of the base, and this region is considered their habitat. This species is categorised as "near threatened" on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The decline of the population on sub-Antarctic islands has been the primary reason for this categorisation.

(With inputs from agencies)