Albino Alligator?

[AH-1G]

I was flying yesterday to capture video of alligators. After reviewing the footage at home, to my surprise and again my wife pointed out, the possibility of an albino alligator?

1st picture normal alligator at surface, note how dark the body is and the portion slightly submersed, the darkness there.
2nd and 3 pick, Albino gators body is not dark.

Since my wife and I help with research at a certain lake (See post # 5), we know at 1 foot 6 inches below the surface it's impossible to see anything. That's how murky the water is.

I ran the pics through Lightroom to clear up pixel noise, and then cropped to get a closer look.
Alligator was swimming from North to South then South/Southeast.
The video was captured around 3:30ish pm with a slightly hazy sky condition 04/06/2019

Opinions?

 

[Fred Garvin]

Could be! Through that green water, it’d have to be to reflect like that. A normal one would be very dark.

 

[Ty Pilot]

You may have found something very rare there AH. I have seen one in captivity but I hear that in the wild they are super rare due to their lack of natural defenses to environment and so fourth. So you have video of this? I am going to have to drive over and see this. ?

 

[Fred Garvin]

How rare in nature are they? I think I asked you that in another thread too but I haven’t checked it.

 

[AH-1G]

So I personally visited the St. Johns Water District Office this morning.
They looked at the video and were perplexed, they even called an expert at a Northern Florida office.
I left with them a copy of the video, 30 seconds of what ever it may be swimming.
They had mentioned a couple of fish in the lake. but admitted it would be hard pressed to have one that long/big.
I was asked not to share it with the public for now! arrrrg!
So I will remove the name of the lake and information relating to that lake.

 

[Ty Pilot]

How rare in nature are they? I think I asked you that in another thread too but I haven’t checked it.

I am not sure about exactly how rare in nature they are but; a quick google check says there are only like 12 in captivity. And while I am sure those places that have one want to make their specimen have an air of exclusivity ?, my understanding is that; in the wild they are very rare due to the fact that most will have been eaten, killed or dead from some disease - long before they have a chance to mature, they simply do not grow up in their natural habitat.

Looks like Fish and Wildlife think they may actually have one OR, they got some weird species there they didn't know existed. I've seen my share of gators in the wild and while that shape looks right, as in a match for the American Alligator, that color is not. The Plot thickens.

 

[Rubik]

My brother-in-law and I were in South Florida in mid-February for the heat wave. We are from the Pacific Northwest which was still reeling from a heavy snow fall.
We saw several gators in the wild in the Everglades. One large one swam right next to our air-boat. The water was murky so we couldn't see deeper than a few inches. The alligator swam with his nose and eyes out of the water the whole time. The submerged body that we could see appeared dark.
The animal in your photos doesn't look like alligator to me, but I'm certainly not an expert.
We also saw a Manatee swimming right next to the dock we were standing on in Flamingo. Again, the water was so murky that we couldn't see the body more than a couple inches below the surface. We couldn't see it's profile but we could see that it was light colored.

 

[biltno]

How long did you see it after filming it? I was wondering, do alligators swim upside down right below the surface then spin upright when looking for food?

 

[Ty Pilot]

Gators' eyes are on top of their head so they do not need to swim upside down to hunt but they swim normally just below the surface with only their eyes and snouts exposed like in AH's first picture and here.

 

[RPR]

Now this makes me want to visit Florida even more.

 

[biltno]

Think I’ll go for a swim before bed

 

[Fred Garvin]

Oh my.....think there’s a “Swim at your own Risk” sign there? Man I wouldn’t go near that water for anything. I love nature and wildlife....yes....but I draw the line with wildlife that can, and will, eat me.

 

[Ty Pilot]

I'm with you Fred. When I first moved to Florida I thought the oceans and shark attacks might pose the biggest threat, I have since rethought that.

P.S. this is a real sign. ? I think it is mostly for the tourists and those bat **** crazy enough to swim in a lake around here. I mean seriously? Alligators - Swim with caution???? Who writes these signs? Yeah they're in the water and you really can't see them till it's too late but yes, by all means if ya gotta swim, please do so with . . . . caution. ?

 

[AH-1G]

They mentioned if I would do more flying in that area since they are very territorial. You bet I will!
so I'll be going back out here in the next couple of days and scan.?
But I'll need an observer, I plan to use my skyview goggles to bet a better look.

 

[Ty Pilot]

Can I stand on the land for this one? ?

 

[AH-1G]

I'm thinking maybe using a paddle board, and chicken bait.

 

[Fred Garvin]

Offer to take someone tubing behind the boat....a nice, slow cruise......

 

[AH-1G]

Great idea! you can use your b_tt to send out sonar pings?

 

[AH-1G]

I'll cook up a pot of beans for ya, free!

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

Oh my.....think there’s a “Swim at your own Risk” sign there? Man I wouldn’t go near that water for anything. I love nature and wildlife....yes....but I draw the line with wildlife that can, and will, eat me.

If I want to visit the local wildlife in central FL... I'll stick with the view from Ker's Winghouse... ?