White dolphin spotted swimming with pod off California

May 17 (UPI) -- A whale watching tour in California was treated to a rare sight when a white dolphin was spotted swimming with a pod a few miles off the coast.

Dana Wharf Whale Watch, which shared video of the dolphin on Facebook, said crew members with Newport Coastal Adventure spotted the white dolphin with a pod of about 40 Risso's dolphins off the coast of Laguna Beach.

Laura Lopez, a naturalist with Dana Wharf Whale Watch who captured photos of the white dolphin, said the pale ocean mammal is not albino, but leucistic, a related condition that involves only a partial lack of pigmentation, as opposed to a complete lack of pigmentation in albinism.

Lopez said the dolphin was spotted previously off the California coast on at least three occasions since 2018.