Migaloo is an albino humpback whale that was first spotted in 1991 in Byron Bay, Australia. His name means ‘white friend’ in several Australian aboriginal languages. Because of his unique appearance and reputation, special laws were created for Migaloo to protect him. For example, water vehicles are not allowed to enter a radius of 500 meters around the animal and aircraft must continue to fly at least 2000 feet (about 609 meters) above the animal.
Researchers decided to track the 15-meter-long and 40-ton mammal with a tracking system, but lost the connection two years ago. Since then, every trace of Migaloo has been missing.
Local resident Peter Coles was fishing when he kayaked past the white humpback’s lifeless body. “It was beautiful, even though it was dead,” he told Sky News. “It was quite spectacular. It looked pure white and marble, just like a sculpture. It almost didn’t look real,” he continued.
,,I walked past the animal and it was ten meters long. I didn’t touch it and it smelled a bit, but there were no signs of decomposition.”
There’s a chance the dead humpback whale found in Mallacoota is Migaloo. For example, the location of the animal fits perfectly into the migration pattern that Migaloo usually follows. However, not everyone is sure. As one of the researchers explains Sky News that they assumed Migaloo was bigger than the one that washed up.
DNA research and analysis of older footage of Migaloo should now provide a definitive answer. If it really is about Migaloo, the animal would have lived to be around 36 years old. The average age of humpback whales is between 45 and 50 years old. Migaloo is currently the only known all-white humpback whale in the world.
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