Anglers and crew fishing off Costa Rica on Tuesday were astonished to discover that a large marlin they hooked and landed was completely white.



The extremely rare catch of an albino blue marlin was made aboard the Spanish Fly, a 43-foot yacht that runs from Maverick Sportfishing out of Los Suenos, on the Central American country’s Pacific side. (It could be that the marlin was leucistic, not a true albino, but just about everyone has been referring to the billfish as a true or partial albino.)

The boat was captained by Juan Carlos Fallas Zamora, with mates Carlos Pollo Espinoza Jimenez and Roberto Chelato Salinas Hernandez. The clients were Bob and Karen Weaver, from New York. Karen reeled the billfish to leader after a 90-minute fight, after which it was carefully released by the crew.





The boat’s regular captain, Daniel Espinoza, posted the accompanying photos on his Facebook page, saying the group “Had an amazing day and confusión. Caught one Blue Marlin alvino, first time I hear of one. Congratulations on that great job.”



Sportfishing report announced the catch on its Facebook page in all caps: “SUPER RARE ALBINO BLUE MARLIN!!!”



Red.Rum Sportfishing, based in Cabo San Lucas, shared the photos under the heading: “RARE ALBINO BLUE MARLIN!”



The Espinozas and Weavers were pre-fishing before a major tournament on Wednesday and unavailable for comment Wednesday.

Glen Mumford, owner of Maverick Sportfishing, said that his captains have seen albino sailfish, but never an albino marlin.

"It definitely was not a typical day," he said.

–Pete Thomas

–Photos are courtesy of Maverick Sportfishing