Local
“Great White Alligator” visits Maritime Aquarium
By Maritime Aquarium
May 19, 2008 - 11:53:27 PM

Appearing now through September 1 at The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk is the “Great White Alligator.”

See a very rare “great white of the wetlands,” an eight-and-a-half-foot-long white alligator. It may be the most rare live animal you will ever encounter, said Jack Schneider, curator at The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk. Of some 5 million American alligators thought to be alive today, just 44 are white, and The Maritime Aquarium has one on display now through Labor Day outside by the Norwalk River and included in Aquarium admission.

This “Cajun curiosity” was hatched at an alligator farm in Cut Off, La. and raised at Alligator Farm Zoological Park in St. Augustine, Fla. White alligators are so rare, legend says staring into their eyes brings prosperity and good fortune. Such is its fame that a Virginia company, IPMS Inc., adopted the white alligator as corporate mascot.

A visit to The Maritime Aquarium by another white alligator in summer 2005 was extremely popular with visitors, Schneider said. Aside from being creamy white it looks and acts like a regular gator. The animal’s white skin is often described as looking like white chocolate.

Along with the white alligator, another Cajun curiosity on display this summer is a 55-pound alligator snapping turtle, the largest species of freshwater turtle in North America.

The white alligator visiting the Aquarium this summer is an albino. Albinos have a genetic oddity that prevents them producing melanin, a dark pigment natural coloration. Thus, they are entirely white, except for pinkish eyes. Their eyes, lacking pigmentation, appear pink from blood vessels showing through colorless corneas, Schneider explained.

White alligators were unknown until the advent of commercial alligator farming. They cannot hide from predators, and so do not survive without human intervention, he added.

Another liability for white alligators is that being cold-blooded reptiles they, like all alligators, rely upon the warmth of their surroundings. In nature, normally colored alligators warm themselves by floating near the water’s surface or crawling onto rocks or logs to bask in the sun. Unfortunately, a white gator’s pale hide sunburns. (The Maritime Aquarium built a special shaded enclosure with a heated pool and warming stone.)

Joining the white alligator are other unusual bayou country animals, including a 55-pound alligator snapping turtle, the largest freshwater turtle species in North America. They have large, powerful jaws and a “lure” in their tongue to attract prey. Also on display is a three-foot-long, two-toed Amphiuma. It may look like an eel or snake but is actually an aquatic salamander with very tiny legs. It has large, sharp teeth that can deliver a powerful bite, Schneider said.

Included in the swampland exhibit are interpretive displays explaining the need for wetlands conservation, both in alligator country as well as around Long Island Sound where marsh preservation here is analogous to swamp protection down south. Sponsored by Aetna.

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