Phantoms and Monsters: Paranormal Activity, Bigfoot, Mothman, UFOs and Other Unexplained Phenomena

timesonline - This rare white Atlantic puffin was seen playing with its more common black friends off the Isles of Scilly.

Barbara Fryer, from Umberleigh, Devon, who took the picture, said: “I’ve seen many puffin colonies and have never seen a white one before.” The bird — once considered mythical — is the result of leucism, in which colour pigments form but are diluted.

The bird expert Peter Robinson, who has worked on the BBC Springwatch programme and for the RSPB for 25 years, said the white puffin was extemely rare.

“I lived on the Isles of Scilly for 12 years and worked ringing puffins in Scotland for a season and have never even heard of a white puffin let alone seen one.

“It’s a stunning photograph and wonderful bird. The contrast between the orange bill and white feathers is particularly amazing,” he said.

Albinism is a genetic mutation that prevents the strong black pigment — melanin — from forming. With leucism, colour pigments form but are diluted.

Ms Fryer, who photographed the puffin from a boat, said: “We had been out every day that week taking photos of puffins and we saw the white one on the last day.

“It was lovely to see it swimming underwater and I am thrilled to have got the shots I wanted in quite difficult conditions.

“The white puffin was sitting on the water as we were floating near rocks, watching adults return to their nests to feed their young.

“It played around with the other puffins for about 15 minutes before flying away. They didn’t seem to mind its unusual colour and treated it like a good friend.”

Puffins are widely distributed across the North Atlantic for most of the year and only come ashore to breed.
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World's Shortest Man, He Pingping, Dies

bbc - The world's shortest man, He Pingping, who was just 74.6cm (2ft 5in) tall, has died in Rome.

He was born in 1988 in Wulanchabu, China, with a form of primordial dwarfism, and was officially recognised as the world's shortest man in 2008.

He was admitted to hospital two weeks ago after suffering a chest complaint and died on Saturday, but his death has only just been announced.

Guinness World Records said he had made a "huge impact around the world".

"From the moment I laid on eyes on him I knew he was someone special - he had such a cheeky smile and mischievous personality, you couldn't help but be charmed by him," said Craig Glenday, Guinness World Records editor-in-chief.

"For such a small man, he made a huge impact around the world," he added.

Mr He was in the Italian capital to take part in the filming of a television programme called The Record Show.

According to the TV production company Europroduzione, he had already filmed two episodes of the programme when he complained of feeling unwell.

"He started to feel slightly ill and we decided to take him to hospital. He entered hospital two weeks ago and had all kinds of tests, being a very special person he had to go though all sorts of tests. He went into intensive care three days after he was admitted," said Marco Fernandez de Araoz, communications director for Europroduzione.

He said that Mr He died on Saturday afternoon and, at the request of his family, his body would be returned to China to be buried.

Rare White Puffin Seen....World's Shortest Man Passes

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