Rare black and white dolphin spotted off Australia

An extremely rare dolphin has been spotted off the eastern coast of Australia.

The black and white marine mammal, which has been named Speckles by researchers, was seen swimming with a group of five other dolphins in Hervey Bay in Queensland.

Speckles has a genetic condition called piebaldism, which causes loss of skin pigmentation in some areas, resulting in a unique skin pattern.

Only six dolphins with the condition have ever been photographed worldwide - and it's thought to be the first time that a piebald dolphin has been discovered in the country.

How was the black and white dolphin spotted?

Speckles was spotted by chance by researchers from the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) in Australia as it leapt out of the water near their research vessel.

The team are in Hervey Bay as part of a four-year project studying dolphins in the area.

Georgina Hume, from the University, said as soon as they saw the adult bottlenose, they knew they had found something special.

She explained: "It was swimming with a group of five other dolphins about 16 kilometres off Hervey Bay's Scarness Beach and we noticed it straight away as it had such strange colouration compared to the others."

"Speckles leapt out of the water three times in an upright, vertical position," she added.

"This allowed us to get a very clear look at its underside which had many white areas, along with white stripes across its dorsal and lateral sides."

The team said that the near-symmetrical white patches on the dolphin, as well as the overall 'healthy' appearance of Speckles, meant that the team could rule out other factors such as disease or sunburn causing the colouration.

Scientists say they hope they can find Speckles again to better understand its role in the dolphin population.