The world’s only pink Bottlenose dolphin which was discovered in an inland lake in Louisiana, USA, has become such an attraction that conservationists have warned tourists to leave it alone.
Charter boat captain Erik Rue, 42, photographed the animal, which is actually an albino, when he began studying it after the mammal first surfaced in Lake Calcasieu, an inland saltwater estuary, north of the Gulf of Mexico in southwestern USA.
Capt Rue originally saw the dolphin, which also has reddish eyes, swimming with a pod of four other dolphins, with one appearing to be its mother which never left its side.
He said: “I just happened to see a little pod of dolphins, and I noticed one that was a little lighter.
“It was absolutely stunningly pink.
“I had never seen anything like it. It’s the same color throughout the whole body and it looks like it just came out of a paint booth.
“The dolphin appears to be healthy and normal other than its coloration, which is quite beautiful and stunningly pink.
“The mammal is entirely pink from tip to tail and has reddish eyes indicating it’s albinism. The skin appears smooth, glossy pink and without flaws.
“I have personally spotted the pink dolphin 40 to 50 times in the time since the original sighting as it has apparently taken up residence with its family in the Calcasieu ship channel.
“As time has passed the young mammal has grown and sometimes ventures away from its mother to feed and play but always remains in the vicinity of the pod.
“Surprisingly, it does not appear to be drastically affected by the environment or sunlight as might be expected considering its condition, although it tends to remain below the surface a little more than the others in the pod.”
Regina Asmutis-Silvia, senior biologist with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, said: “I have never seen a dolphin coloured in this way in all my career.
“It is a truly beautiful dolphin but people should be careful, as with any dolphins, to respect it - observe from a distance, limit their time watching, don’t chase or harass it
“While this animal looks pink, it is an albino which you can notice in the pink eyes.
“Albinism is a genetic trait and it unclear as to the type of albinism this animal inherited.”
A close relation of dolphins, the Amazon River Botos, called pink dolphins, live in South America in the Amazon.
“When you lose, it’s an awful feeling,” Brady said. “We’re just not closing the game out when we have an opportunity.”
AFC East leader New England (7-5) remained winless in five games in opponents’ stadiums. For the third time on the road, the Patriots lost after leading in the fourth quarter.
“If things don’t go your way, you’ve got to fight back,” Brady said. “At times we do, and at other times I don’t think we fight very hard.”
The Dolphins (6-6) overcame an early 14-point deficit to keep their playoff prospects alive.
“It puts us right back in the thick of things,” coach Tony Sparano said.
The verdict was sealed when Channing Crowder made his first career interception, picking off Brady at the Patriots 40 with 35 seconds left.
Brady went to the locker room early in the game for treatment of an arm injury, but he returned without missing a play. He finished 19 for 29 for 352 yards and two long touchdowns, but he also threw two fourth-quarter interceptions, and New England scored only once in the final 44 minutes.
Brady declined to blame his health, even though he came in with right shoulder and finger injuries.
“There are a lot of guys who are banged up,” he said. “I don’t think many guys are 100 percent. It’s late in the year. It’s a physical game. You’ve still got to go out and get the job done.”
Leading 21-19, the Patriots had first-and-goal at the 4 with 10 minutes left, but Brady was intercepted in the end zone by rookie Vontae Davis, who stepped in front of Randy Moss to make the play.
“Going against the top receivers week in and week out, you’ve got to grow up sometime,” Davis said. “Today was one of those days to grow up.”
New England subsequently forced Miami to punt twice, but each time Brady and the Patriots went three and out. On one play Brady overthrew an open Sam Aiken deep.
The Dolphins started from their 26 with 3:44 to go. On fourth-and-6, Henne hit Greg Camarillo for 13 yards to the Patriots
28. That set up Dan Carpenter’s third field goal, a 41-yarder.
Brady threw touchdown passes of 58 yards to Moss and 81 yards to Aiken, and he also had a 58-yard completion to Wes Welker.
But New England twice failed to score inside the Miami 10. The Patriots were stopped on downs at the 6 in the second quarter.
“I have to coach better,” coach Bill Belichick said. “We have to play better, just do a better job.”
Welker had 10 receptions for 167 yards, but Moss was held to two catches.
“They’re focusing a lot on him,” Brady said. “You’ve got to get the ball to other guys when they do that.”
Henne went 29 for 52 with one interception. It was the most passes thrown by the run-oriented Dolphins since 2006, and Henne endorsed Sparano’s surprising game plan.
“If he wants to, we can throw all day,” Henne said. “I love it. Put it in my hands in pressure situations.”
Brady hurt his arm taking a hit as he threw the touchdown bomb to Moss on the opening series. While the Patriots celebrated, their quarterback trotted off the field and kept going, vanishing through the tunnel.
He returned five minutes later, and following a Miami punt he was back in the game to direct a 13-play, 80-yard drive for a 14-0 lead.
The New England Patriots lead the AFC East with a 7-5 record, but that might be the only good news the Patriots have after losing at Land Shark Stadium to the Miami Dolphins 22-21. It was the Patriots’ third loss in three games. It was QB Tom Brady’s first December loss since 2006, a 21-0 loss at Miami. A week after losing to an NFC team during the regular season for the first time since September 2005, the Patriots lost two straight games for the first time since November 2006. They are 1-5 on the road, and that one win was in London against the 1-11 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They even got bad news via other teams! The 12-0 Indianapolis Colts beat the 5-7 Tennessee Titans 27-17, not only ending the Titans’ pipe dream winning streak, but also tying the New England Patriots’ record for most consecutive regular season wins at 21. And the 12-0 New Orleans Saints were done in Washington until Redskins K Shaun Suisham missed a chip shot FG attempt late in the 4th quarter up 30-23. What followed was: a bomb from QB Drew Brees to WR Robert Meachem for a TD, only his second most miraculous TD of the game behind his fumble return for a TD following Redskins SS Kareem Moore’s INT at the end of the first half; an INT of QB Jason Campbell by ILB Jonathan Vilma; a missed long FG by Saints K Garret Hartley that led to OT; an OT coin toss won by the Redskins, only for FB Mike Sellers to lose a fumble; and a chip shot FG by Hartley to give the Saints an improbable 33-30 victory. It was quite reminiscent of the Patriots’ 2007 run of escaping defeat, and perhaps a nice view of what the Patriots were at this time two years ago.
Where the Patriots are right now is in a precocious situation. As recently as 14 minutes left in the 4th quarter at Indianapolis, the 6-2 Patriots looked like unquestioned Super Bowl contenders with a 31-14 lead. But then the season turned on Patriots head coach Bill Belichick’s call to go for it on 4th down in his own territory. Since that call, it has become painfully obvious that the New England Patriots are two teams: One with a Super Bowl contender but predictable offense, and one with a clearly regressing and seemingly rebuilding defense. The Patriots scored on the first possession of the game (a 58 yard TD pass deep to WR Randy Moss following a double play action fake), took a 14-0 second quarter lead after a 6 yard TD run by RB Kevin Faulk to end a 13 play drive, took a 21-10 lead on Brady’s first pass of the second half after an 81 yard bomb to WR Sam Aiken for a TD (the longest play of the season for the Patriots), and entered the 4th quarter with a 21-19 lead.
But even up to that point, there were concerns: The Patriots wasted a second quarter INT by SS Brandon Meriweather and a season long 58 yard reception by WR Wes Welker when FB Sammy Morris was stopped by Dolphins OLB Joey Porter on 4th and 1 at the Miami 6 yard line after the 2 minute warning. The Patriots offense followed up Aiken’s third quarter TD reception by punting twice (the first time going three and out, the second time after an offensive pass interference penalty on Aiken that wiped out a conversion by Welker). The Dolphins answered Faulk’s TD by going 88 yards and ending a 10 play drive with a 15 yard TD pass from QB Chad Henne to WR Davone Bess, the third 3rd down conversion of the drive. After Porter’s 4th down stop of Morris inside two minutes, Henne ran a two-minute drill that ended in a Dan Carpenter FG from 29 yards. After Aiken’s TD, the Patriots kickoff coverage had a rare lapse, allowing 51 yards on the return by Dolphins KR Ted Ginn to the Miami 48. On the ensuing 3rd down, Patriots CB Jonathan Wilhite was penalized 37 yards for pass interference after getting burned by Dolphins WR Brian Hartline, which led to a FG. And after going three and out, the Dolphins drove 64 yards in 10 plays, with the Patriots giving up another 3rd down TD off of play action (this time it was 7 yards in the back corner of the end zone to Hartline). The Dolphins failed to get the two-point conversion, but they entered the 4th quarter down two on their own 3 yard line, with the Patriots’ secondary on their heels.
When I said the Patriots had a Super Bowl caliber offense, it was shown by the 21 points they scored. When I said the Patriots’ offense is predictable, it was shown by Brady’s red zone pass to Moss being intercepted by CB Vontae Davis in the end zone. The INT marked the second failed red zone trip of the game for the Patriots, and you already know how costly that is in hindsight because this was a one point game. The Patriots’ defense would force two punts, but the Patriots’ offense went three and out both times. Trusting his defense to contain QB Chad Henne for a fourth time in the 4th quarter, Belichick actually chose to punt from his own 39 yard line with 3:55 left! Dolphins PR Davone Bess returned P Chris Hanson’s 42 yard punt 7 yards to the Miami 26. Chad Henne was not supposed to be able to win this game in the 4th quarter, right? That’s definitely what I thought as I was writing the 1SKILLZ Gameplan for this game. But Henne had already led ran a successful two-minute drill to end the first half. With 2:09 left and one timeout remaining, Henne faced 4th and 6 from the New England 41 yard line. In a similar situation against the Baltimore Ravens in week 4, the Patriots were up 6 when Ravens WR Mark Clayton ran a comeback route pass the 1st down marker but dropped a 4th down pass from Joe Flacco that would have given the Ravens a chance to beat the Patriots. Despite safety help, Patriots rookie CB Darius Butler allowed Dolphins WR Greg Camarillo to run a comeback route and Henne found him for a 13 yard first down, putting Miami in FG position. It was Henne’s 52nd (and final) pass of the game and his 29th completion, as he ended up with a career high 335 yards. From there the game was on Dan Carpenter after the Dolphins used Ricky Williams to take the Patriots’ remaining timeouts, and he came through with the game winning FG from 41 yards. Despite the Boston Patriots uniforms, there would be no miracle comeback like the season opener against the Buffalo Bills for Tom Brady. With under a minute left and no timeouts, RT Nick Kaczur was beaten by Dolphins OLB Cameron Wake. As Brady threw Wake hit him from his strong side, and ILB Channing Crowder iced the game with an INT.
This is a team loss for the New England Patriots, but to blame this on Belichick (again) for going for it on 4th down in scoring position is a cop out. The offense had 3 second half three and outs, Morris and the offensive line should have converted on 4th down in the second quarter, and Brady should not have thrown an INT in the end zone in the 4th quarter as even a FG in that situation would have forced the Dolphins to score a third TD to win. But to blame the loss on just the offense’s inability to produce in the second half ignores the fact that the Patriots put up enough points to win this game. Maybe you can blame the Patriots’ special teams for giving up a big kickoff return to Ted Ginn, but P Chris Hanson also put the Dolphins on the 3 yard line to start the 4th quarter. The fact is that the defense, especially the secondary, has proven to be consistently vulnerable. None of the Patriots CBs are reliable at this point. Leigh Bodden bit on the play action TD pass to Hartline. Wilhite was benched against the Saints and burned for a 37 yard penalty defending Hartline. Butler was picked on often in this game, most critically on Henne’s last pass of the game. CB Shawn Springs can’t even get on the field anymore. CB Terrence Wheatley was a second round pick in 2008 but is undersized and rarely used on defense. Meriweather had the INT, but had no tackles in this game. FS Brandon McGowan had been playing well this season, but TE Anthony Fasano caught five passes for 67 yards. The nonexistent pass rush (OLB Tully Banta-Cain and ILB Jerod Mayo shared the only sack of Henne in 53 passing plays) doesn’t help matters at all. Chad Henne grew up today on the Patriots’ watch. The blueprint for how to beat the New England Patriots has been laid by the Saints and confirmed by the Dolphins: No matter what New England does on offense, just protect the football, run the ball to manage the clock, and attack the CBs as much as possible since there will be minimal pressure on the QB. Coming soon: the New England Patriots 3rd quarter report.
-1SKILLZ
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Write comment Name Email URL (optional Your commentNew England Patriots vs. Miami Dolphins
The New England Patriots need to start winning road games if they want to get into the playoffs in the hotly contended AFC postseason race. By the looks of things, they do have a winnable game on Sunday in Miami, but they have not fared too well in South Florida over the years.
The Patriots (7-4) are perfect at home, but have just one win, over the woeful Tampa Bay Buccaneers in London, making them 0-4 in opponent’s backyards. Granted their losses have been to the undefeated Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints as well as division leading teams when they faced them, the New York Jets and Denver Broncos.
New England hung around the powerful Saints last Monday night, until New Orleans pulled away for a 38-17 win at the Superdome, making this next road game all the more important for the Patriots in order to grab a firm grasp on their division.
The Patriots’ defense will have another tough test on Sunday, but this time on the ground. Last week they allowed Drew Brees to have the aerial assault of 371 yards and five touchdowns and 480 yards overall, both the yardage and point totals were a season-high for New England.
The Dolphins (5-6) were getting back into the AFC playoff race, but dropped a road game to division-rival Buffalo last Sunday, ending their two-game winning streak.
Miami was able to win five of their final six games of the year a season ago to clinch the AFC East division for the first time since 2000 with an 11-5 record, going to the postseason ahead of New England with the identical record on basis on a tie-breaker.
They are hoping for a similar effort and can go a long way to getting back into the East race with a win on Sunday.
Despite the loss last week, Miami Dolphins has fared fairly well without Ronnie Brown, who is out for the year with a foot injury. Ricky Williams has filled the hole, running for 100 yards in the three games since Brown’s injury, though the Dolphins miss Brown’s arm out of the wild-cat as William’s only pass of the game was a costly interception in the endzone.
New England downed Miami 27-17 at home last month and have actually won the last two games in South Florida after going 2-5 in the previous seven. The Patriots have outscored the Dolphins 97-56 in the last two games in Miami.
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