site.btaBulgarian, Chilean Polar Explorers Spot Rare Snow-White Penguins in Antarctica

Rare snow-white penguins have been spotted in Antarctica in front of the Bulgarian Antarctic base, and in front of the Chilean base, AFP reports.

There are 14 scientists working at the Gabriel Gonzalez Videla facility, surrounded by a colony of thousands of the birds with the scientific name Pygoscelis papua, which are identifiable by the white plumage on their belly and above their eyes, black on their backs and orange beaks.

The specimen the team encountered, however, "was completely different from the others," Hugo Aros, 33, told AFP. He is a sergeant and cook at the science station. The man documented the discovery.

On this occasion, the commander of the Bulgarian Antarctic Base Kamen Nedkov told BTA that our polar explorers had also seen and photographed the rare bird.

This penguin suffered from leucism, a genetic trait caused by a recessive gene.