Migaloo the rare white humpback whale spotted
One of the world's rarest sea creatures, Migaloo the white humpback whale (his name is an Aboriginal word for "white fella") was spotted off the eastern coast of Australia on June 19. According to the Pacific Whale Foundation, Migaloo is the "only documented white humpback whale in the world."
Whale Watching Sydney, a tourism company, said "We got extremely lucky and had Migaloo come up just 5m next to our boat – what a sight that was! An incredible day our passengers wont forget."
Since Migaloo is migrating up the coast of Australia toward warmer waters, it's possible to estimate where he might end up. Hoping to get a quick peek at the amazing creature, Whale Watching Sydney "...had people up on the cliffs from 6:30 am to make sure we would not miss out."
Finally, at around 3 PM, Migaloo was spotted, and the footage above was shot. "He was travelling in a competition pod of 5 adults with an average speed of about 7kts and a great deal of zigging and zagging. There is an exclusion zone of 500m around him which we stuck to but with the nature of a competition pod its sometimes hard to predict where they will come up next," Whale Watching Sydney notes.
The Guardian explains that the white humpback whale was first spotted in 1991. It's possible to get a rough estimate of where he'll pop up, but there have been years when he seemed to vanish.
The White Whale Research Center explains that there's another really exciting reason to try and catch a glimpse of Migaloo: he may not be alone. The site explains, "Up until September 2011 Migaloo was thought to be the only all white Humpback Whale in the world. Then amazing footage emerged of a 100% all white baby humpback calf. This new white whale unofficially named MJ (Migaloo Junior) has amazed & delighted people from around the world."
If you want to be 'friends' with Migaloo, check out his Facebook page. Here's to many more majestic migrations!
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