Amazing Footage of Rare White Whale Off the Coast of Australia Emerges

By Zachary Stieber
August 10, 2015 Last Updated: August 10, 2015

Video footage of a rare white whale swimming off the coast of Australia has gone viral.

The video shows a white humpback whale swimming off the coast of Queensland on Monday.

Whale watchers are hoping that it’s the country’s famous whale Migaloo, although Queensland’s Department of Environment and Heritage Protection told Mashable that it hasn’t been able to confirm those hopes.

Migaloo, or “white fella” in Aboriginal, became the world’s first known white humpack in 1991 after being spotted off Byron Bay.

He has since been spotted at various locations around the country, with a Twitter account dedicated to confirmed and possible sightings.

Oskar Peterson, who runs the account, said more photos are needed to confirm if the whale in the video is actually Migaloo, and that right now he doesn’t think it is Migaloo since the whale appears to be smaller and younger. 

“The photos coming in are inconclusive. He seems to be very shining white, while last year he had yellow coloring markings on him,” he said.

“This could well be Migaloo, but at this moment in time I am leaning towards that it is not. Due to his size and lack of photos at the moment, but also the timing of the year. It is very unusual. What might be the case is that he has fallen smitten for some beautiful humpback female and he has been singing her love songs and taking his time.”