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National GeographicLast summer, a group of sport fishermen was casting lines off the coast of Costa Rica's Tortuguero National Park when one of their hooks caught a creature no one had ever seen before: a six-foot nurse shark with white eyes and golden skin. The astonished fishermen released the shark, but not before snapping a few photos to share with local scientists. But, upon further investigation, Nat Geo Explorer and executive director of Costa Rica’s Rescue Center for Endangered Marine Species, Daniel Arauz Naranjo and his colleagues determined that the photos were not only genuine, but that the shark’s coloration was the product of a rare skin condition known as albino-xanthochromism. Learn more about the rare conditions that resulted in a golden shark at the 🔗 in bio.
On the profile · Sep 15, 2025