Albino whale draws south coast crowd
albino can sometimes serves as an avenue for tourist which is somehow an example of what happen in south coast area recently where Albino whale is being sighted but people dont realize how an albino whale looks like.
A white whale has been seen swimming off the south coast, near Port Elliot.
The South Australian Whale Centre says the albino whale was seen late on Thursday at Basham Beach - the first recorded sighting of its kind in the area.
Natalie Perkins from the Whale Centre says the mammal was about 30 metres from shore and drew a big crowd.
"What we are assuming is that it's actually making its way back to Antarctica," she said.
"Records from research done in South Africa estimate that only 10 per cent of the southern right [whale] population are born with a lack of pigmentation in their skin and certainly here on the Fleurieu Peninsula it's the first that we have ever recorded, so it's very exciting."
Saturday, October 3, 2009
albino in africa
In many African nations - but most commonly in Tanzania - albinos are butchered in the street.
Their remains are used in the macabre human potions used by traditional healers to treat the sick.
Believing it will bring them good luck and big catches, fishermen on the shores Lake Victoria weave albino hair into nets.
For unknown reasons, Tanzania is believed to have Africa' s largest population of albinos - a genetic condition caused by a lack of skin pigmentation - and has an incidence seven times higher than elsewhere in the world.
Although those with the condition suffer higher than average levels of skin cancer and blindness, most albinos live full, happy lives - and can have healthy children of their own.
But those born with white skin in parts of Africa often pay a terrible social price for their condition.
Such is the stigma, albino children used to be killed at birth.
In recent times, they have been spared by their parents - but they are usually kept indoors, hidden by their families to protect them from 'human poachers' and abuse on the streets.
Shunned from normal village life and barred from many jobs, these 'white ghosts' are also widely believed to provide a cure for Aids, the scourge of this continent.
Indeed, many Africans believe that having sex with an albino will cure them of the disease. This has subsequently led to countless rape cases against albino women, leaving them HIV positive, too.
The white skin of albinos is also highly sought-after. There have been scores of cases of albinos in Tanzania and neighbouring Kenya being murdered and then skinned.
Investigators have found albino skins from Tanzania being sold in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and South Africa.
No wonder, then, that the relatives of dead albinos are also careful about burial arrangements, which are often held in private at secret locations to prevent grave-robbers digging up and selling their loved ones' body parts.
Bones are ground down and buried in the earth by miners, who believe they will be transformed into diamonds. The genitals are made into treatments to bolster sexual potency.
Despite the increasingly modern appearance of many African towns and cities, where almost everybody carries a mobile phone and the young bid to wear the latest Western fashions, many educated people still believe in black magic and traditional medicine.
And treatments made from albino body parts are believed to be particularly powerful, even by rich urban dwellers.
In fact, the eyes, blood and organs of albinos can now fetch thousands of pounds - unimaginable sums in East Africa, where millions live on less than £2 a day and where this shocking trade is most common.
Indeed, the colossal sums involved have spawned a new breed of freelance killers, often protected by the police, who harvest albino body parts for massive profits.
Some governments are trying to stamp out this vile business.
This week, courts in Tanzania, where there have been 90 such killings in the past two years, handed out death sentences to a group of men who had slaughtered and dismembered an albino boy - the first such punishment for albino killers.
The court in the north-west Shinyanga District, near Lake Victoria, ordered three men to hang for their part in the slaughter of Matatizo Dunia, a 14-year-old albino.
He had been bundled out of his home in the dead of night - and cut into pieces.
One of the accused was caught with the boy's leg. The remainder of the corpse was found hidden in bushes. The guilty men admitted they planned to sell the 'white meat' to witch doctors.
The gang is believed to have been responsible for 'hunting' albinos throughout the region, before trading their organs across this vast continent. And many are relieved that they now face the gallows.
'They killed an innocent and defenceless albino and they, too, deserve to die,' said Grace Wabanu, an albino university student who attended the court.
'I hope this judgment will serve as a deterrent to people who intend to kill albinos in the belief that their body parts will make them rich.
for so many reasons, afrcans have been reacting to this latest development that news about albino in africa has been an insult in africa history due to balck pigment that they have.
for further details please visit http://www.sellisup.blogspot.com
Their remains are used in the macabre human potions used by traditional healers to treat the sick.
Believing it will bring them good luck and big catches, fishermen on the shores Lake Victoria weave albino hair into nets.
For unknown reasons, Tanzania is believed to have Africa' s largest population of albinos - a genetic condition caused by a lack of skin pigmentation - and has an incidence seven times higher than elsewhere in the world.
Although those with the condition suffer higher than average levels of skin cancer and blindness, most albinos live full, happy lives - and can have healthy children of their own.
But those born with white skin in parts of Africa often pay a terrible social price for their condition.
Such is the stigma, albino children used to be killed at birth.
In recent times, they have been spared by their parents - but they are usually kept indoors, hidden by their families to protect them from 'human poachers' and abuse on the streets.
Shunned from normal village life and barred from many jobs, these 'white ghosts' are also widely believed to provide a cure for Aids, the scourge of this continent.
Indeed, many Africans believe that having sex with an albino will cure them of the disease. This has subsequently led to countless rape cases against albino women, leaving them HIV positive, too.
The white skin of albinos is also highly sought-after. There have been scores of cases of albinos in Tanzania and neighbouring Kenya being murdered and then skinned.
Investigators have found albino skins from Tanzania being sold in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and South Africa.
No wonder, then, that the relatives of dead albinos are also careful about burial arrangements, which are often held in private at secret locations to prevent grave-robbers digging up and selling their loved ones' body parts.
Bones are ground down and buried in the earth by miners, who believe they will be transformed into diamonds. The genitals are made into treatments to bolster sexual potency.
Despite the increasingly modern appearance of many African towns and cities, where almost everybody carries a mobile phone and the young bid to wear the latest Western fashions, many educated people still believe in black magic and traditional medicine.
And treatments made from albino body parts are believed to be particularly powerful, even by rich urban dwellers.
In fact, the eyes, blood and organs of albinos can now fetch thousands of pounds - unimaginable sums in East Africa, where millions live on less than £2 a day and where this shocking trade is most common.
Indeed, the colossal sums involved have spawned a new breed of freelance killers, often protected by the police, who harvest albino body parts for massive profits.
Some governments are trying to stamp out this vile business.
This week, courts in Tanzania, where there have been 90 such killings in the past two years, handed out death sentences to a group of men who had slaughtered and dismembered an albino boy - the first such punishment for albino killers.
The court in the north-west Shinyanga District, near Lake Victoria, ordered three men to hang for their part in the slaughter of Matatizo Dunia, a 14-year-old albino.
He had been bundled out of his home in the dead of night - and cut into pieces.
One of the accused was caught with the boy's leg. The remainder of the corpse was found hidden in bushes. The guilty men admitted they planned to sell the 'white meat' to witch doctors.
The gang is believed to have been responsible for 'hunting' albinos throughout the region, before trading their organs across this vast continent. And many are relieved that they now face the gallows.
'They killed an innocent and defenceless albino and they, too, deserve to die,' said Grace Wabanu, an albino university student who attended the court.
'I hope this judgment will serve as a deterrent to people who intend to kill albinos in the belief that their body parts will make them rich.
for so many reasons, afrcans have been reacting to this latest development that news about albino in africa has been an insult in africa history due to balck pigment that they have.
for further details please visit http://www.sellisup.blogspot.com
albinism and albino in animal
Albinism are mostly common in animal than human in the area of occurences. Most humans and many animals with albinism appear white or very pale; the multiple types of melanin pigment are responsible for brown, black, gray, and some yellow colorations. In some humans and animals there can be a single patch or patches of skin displaying albinism. Especially albinistic birds and reptiles, ruddy and yellow hues or other colors may be present on the entire body or in patches (as is common among pigeons), due to the presence of other pigments unaffected by albinism such as porphyrins, pteridines and psittacins, as well as carotenoid pigments derived from the diet. Some animals are white or pale due to chromatophore (pigment cell) defects, and do not lack melanin production, and have normal eyes; they are referred to as leucistic. The direct opposite of albinism, an unusually high level of melanin pigmentation (and sometimes absence of other types of pigment in species that have more than one), is known as melanism, and results in an appearance darker than non-melanistic specimens from the same genepool.Albinism-like conditions may affect other pigments or pigment-production mechanisms in some animals (e.g. "whiteface", a lack of psittacins that can affect some parrot species.) Another is common in reptiles and amphibians: axanthism, in which xanthophore metabolism, instead of synthesis of melanin, is affected, resuling in reduction or absence of red and yellow pteridine pigments Of all these conditions, only albinism and melanism affect humans
albinism in human (introduction)
Albinism is hereditary; it is not an infectious disease and cannot be transmitted through contact, blood transfusions, or other vectors. The principal gene which results in albinism prevents the body from making the usual amounts of the pigment melanin. Most forms of albinism are the result of the biological inheritance of genetically recessive alleles (genes) passed from both parents of an individual, though some rare forms are inherited from only one parent. There are other genetic mutations which are proven to be associated with albinism. All alterations, however, lead to changes in melanin production in the body.
The chance of offspring with albinism resulting from the pairing of an organism with albinism and one without albinism is low, as discussed in more detail below. However, because organisms can be carriers of genes for albinism without exhibiting any traits, albinistic offspring can be produced by two non-albinistic parents. Albinism usually occurs with equal frequency in both genders
The chance of offspring with albinism resulting from the pairing of an organism with albinism and one without albinism is low, as discussed in more detail below. However, because organisms can be carriers of genes for albinism without exhibiting any traits, albinistic offspring can be produced by two non-albinistic parents. Albinism usually occurs with equal frequency in both genders
Albinism is hereditary; it is not an infectious disease and cannot be transmitted through contact, blood transfusions, or other vectors. The principal gene which results in albinism prevents the body from making the usual amounts of the pigment melanin. Most forms of albinism are the result of the biological inheritance of genetically recessive alleles (genes) passed from both parents of an individual, though some rare forms are inherited from only one parent. There are other genetic mutations which are proven to be associated with albinism. All alterations, however, lead to changes in melanin production in the body.
The chance of offspring with albinism resulting from the pairing of an organism with albinism and one without albinism is low, as discussed in more detail below. However, because organisms can be carriers of genes for albinism without exhibiting any traits, albinistic offspring can be produced by two non-albinistic parents. Albinism usually occurs with equal frequency in both genders
The chance of offspring with albinism resulting from the pairing of an organism with albinism and one without albinism is low, as discussed in more detail below. However, because organisms can be carriers of genes for albinism without exhibiting any traits, albinistic offspring can be produced by two non-albinistic parents. Albinism usually occurs with equal frequency in both genders
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