by An up-close encounter with Migaloo – the only white humpback whale in the world
Mother Nature is perfect is so many ways. And the ʀᴀʀᴇsᴛ its beautiful creation are more fascinating become. It’s also the case of this extremely ʀᴀʀᴇ white humpback whale. Many of us doesn’t know those animals even exist. So imagine how lucky you must feel to see it with your eyes. That’s definitely once in a lifetime experience.
Migaloo is the only known all-white humpback whale and he travels up and down the east coast of Australia. He has became quite famous with the local media and tourists. Migaloo was first sighted in 1991, and was believed to be three to five years old at that time. In 2004, Migaloo was shown to be male through analysis of sloughed skin samples.
Migaloo got its name after the Aboriginal word for ‘white man’ and he gained notoriety as one of only a very few snowy whales known to humankind. Yet, so far it isn’t know exactly the reason of his unique color for a humpback whale. Because of the intense interest, environmentalists feared he was becoming quite sᴛʀᴇssᴇᴅ by the number of boats following him around each day. In response to their concerns, the Queensland and New South Wales governments introduce legislation each year to create a 500-m (1600-ft) exclusion zone around the whale to keep him protected. Unfortunately recent closeup pictures have shown Migaloo to have sᴋɪɴ ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ and/or sᴋɪɴ ᴄʏsᴛs as a result of his lack of protection from the sun due to his white coloration. This is actually quite common with white or ᴀʟʙɪɴᴏ animals which is one reason why they are so ʀᴀʀᴇ in nature.
The experts think it might be either ʟᴇᴜᴄɪsᴍ or his true ᴀʟʙɪɴᴏ. That means he is unable to produce ᴘɪɢᴍᴇɴᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ at all. The animal is estimated to be 31-year-old. He can live up to 80 year-old according to Oskar Peterson, who runs the Australian-based White Whale Research Centre. see a ʀᴀʀᴇ and special encounter with Migaloo as he approached a small boat to make his presence known.
