‘Not Migaloo’: Early investigations find dead white whale not famous mammal

A dead humpback whale found washed up on an Australian beach has been confirmed as a young female that may have lost her colour after death - not famous white whale Migaloo.

A dead humpback whale found washed up on an Australian beach has been confirmed as a young female that may have lost her colour after death - not famous white whale Migaloo.

Victorian wildlife officials announced the confirmation this morning after the whale’s white colour sparked fears the famed Migaloo had gone to the ocean in the sky.

Officers from Victoria Government’s Environment, Land, Water and Planning said this morning that an analysis of the images show the carcass is a different whale.

“DELWP Officers have examined images of the dead humpback whale at Mallacoota and have confirmed it is a sub-adult female. Migaloo is a male,” DELWP regional agency commander Peter Bick said.

“DELWP and Parks Victoria staff will be further assessing the carcass over coming days.”

Part of the assessment will be to determine the colour of the whale with humpback whale carcasses known to lose their colour and appear to be white after being in the ocean for some time.

A white whale washed up on a beach near Mallacoota in Victoria. Picture: Supplied

Mr Bick urged anyone in the area to stay at least 300m away from the carcass.

Earlier, it came as marine scientists worked through the night investigating if the white whale was the country’s most famous whale, Migaloo.

But early investigations suggested it may not be the famed mammal.

Photos shared to social media of a rare white whale washed up on a beach at Mallacoota in Victoria caused concern on Saturday afternoon, but scientists said it could be some time before it is confirmed it is in fact not Migaloo.

Wildlife scientist Dr Vanessa Pirotta said initial investigations, without genetic testing, have found that the beached white whale in Victoria was potentially not Migaloo.

Dr Pirotta said this morning The White Whale Research Centre team had worked overnight to assess the images of the whale where they found key features including barnacles on the throat and darkened skin.

An albino whale washed up on a beach near Mallacoota in Victoria. Supplied.

According to the research team, these features meant it could potentially be another whale that has passed at sea and later been washed up.

“It’s not a 100 per cent conclusion, but this could potentially be another whale, not Migaloo,” she said this morning.

“Genetic testing will tell us 100 per cent if it’s Migaloo or not, but at this stage... just based on what we’ve seen, it seems to be most likely a white whale.”

Dr Pirotta also said understanding the gender of the whale will help experts know if it’s Migaloo or not.

Meanwhile, the Marine Mammal Foundation on Saturday night said that “early assessment of gender and skin degradation suggests it’s not Migaloo,” but stopped short of confirming that the famed white whale had lived to swim another day.

Migaloo has been delighting the eastern seaboard for years. This shot snapped by Byron Bay photographer and artist Sean O'Shea.

Cade Mooney posted the images, taken by a friend, which were then shared by Tasman Venture Hervey Bay, an award-winning marine tour operator on the Fraser Coast who warned that it was not yet clear from the images if the whale was indeed Migaloo.

“One of the photos there seems to be a visible lobe. If it is identified as a female it could be the white calf that was born in 2011,” they wrote.

An albino whale washed up on a beach near Mallacoota in Victoria. Supplied.

“We are hopeful to hear more details of the whale as they are confirmed and released to work out if the whale is Migaloo or not.

“A very sad day for our whales.”

An albino whale washed up on a beach near Mallacoota in Victoria. Supplied.

Dr Wally Franklin, who has been researching the whale since the 1990s, said that there was no evidence in the photos that confirmed the whale was Migaloo.

“There just isn’t enough evidence there to say that it is Migaloo, in fact the whale could have washed up last week and the sun might have bleached it white.”

“It could be a regular humpback whale.”

Migaloo putting on an amazing show off Port Douglas. Picture: Indepth Photography, Quicksilver.

Dr Franklin said that Victorian authorities would take a biopsy from the whale and test it against Migaloo’s DNA, which has been catalogued, to confirm whether the carcass really is Migaloo.

A giant inflatable Migaloo blimp-like replica took to the skies above Carrara Stadium on the Gold Coast in 2018 as part of the opening ceremony of the XXI Commonwealth Games, while the real Migaloo was last officially seen in 2020.

He is so popular that he has more than 10,000 followers on his very own Twitter account, which is operated by The White Whale Research Centre to share sightings of the whale and to raise awareness about Australia’s marine environment.

A white whale washed up on a beach in far-east Victoria. Picture: Peter Coles