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"The pectoral fins are a critical structure, comparable to our arms," said UCR biology doctoral student and paper first author Phillip Sternes.

When wildlife videographer Carlos Gauna and shark researcher Phillip Sternes saw on their drone footage a small great white shark that lacked the species’ typical gray coloring, they knew they had captured something rare.

The pup was captured by wildlife filmmaker Carlos Guana and University of California Riverside biology doctoral student Phillip Sternes in July, with their findings published Monday in the journal Environmental Biology of Fishes.

“Both scenarios are highly significant,” says Sternes, who together with Gauna co-authored a study announcing the findings today in the journal Environmental Biology of Fishes.

"We enlarged the images, put them in slow motion, and realized the white layer was being shed from the body as it was swimming," Sternes said.