Casanova of east coast: Dead whale not Migaloo as celebrity humpback evades sightings

Reports of his death are greatly exaggerated, but just where is celebrity white whale Migaloo? Perhaps “wandering the Pacific looking for love”, experts say.

He’s the womanising white whale searching the seas for love.

Reports of a white whale washed ashore on the Victorian coast last week left nature lovers fearing the famous Migaloo had met an untimely end before it was confirmed the unfortunate creature was a young female whose body had been bleached by the sun.

There has not been a confirmed sighting of Migaloo, a celebrity of the seas with his own website, Twitter page and CD collection, since mid-2020 when he was spotted on his annual northern migration off the coast of Port Macquarie, but whale researchers are confident he is still out there and could be cruising for encounters with females.

Migaloo thrilled spectators when he was spotted off Port Douglas in 2019. Picture: Indepth Photography, Quicksilver.

Dr Wally Franklin from Southern Cross University’s marine ecology research centre first came across Migaloo in the early 1990s and said there was no evidence to suggest the rare albino humpback was not still roaming the oceans as a mature breeding male now aged in his early 30s.

“He could be wandering the Pacific looking for love,” he said.

“He’s very popular, and whenever we see him he is usually in the company of other whales.”

Dr Wally Franklin. Picture: Mireille Merlet-Shaw

Dr Vanessa Pirotta, a wildlife scientist with Macquarie University’s marine predator research group, agreed that Migaloo could be looking for another mate.

“When you’re a whale, the ocean is your oyster,” she said.

“There have been periods where we haven’t seen Migaloo for several years and others where he might be seen regularly.

“There’s so many variables to migration patterns.”

Dr Vanessa Pirotta. Picture: Jonathan Ng

From critically endangered numbers when whaling was banned in the 1960s, an estimated 40,000 humpbacks will make the migration along Australia’s east coast this winter.

Early movers have already arrived in Queensland for their winter getaway, but many are still on the march, fuelling hopes Migaloo could still be seen in the coming weeks.

He has not been spotted in Hervey Bay, the traditional capital of the whales’ northern migration, for many years, but has been seen as far north as Port Douglas and has been known to ditch Australia altogether in some years in favour of journeys across the South Pacific to New Caledonia.

Humpbacks live up to 80 years in the wild, meaning Migaloo is still in his prime.

Dr Franklin said reports Migaloo was suffering poor health in recent years were incorrect.

“He was seen with some rusty colour on his body a few years ago and people took that to mean he was infested with lice, but they were most likely diatoms (a type of algae) that cause a yellowish discolouration and that seemed to disappear after a while,” he said.

A white whale found dead on a Victorian beach was not Migaloo. Picture: Peter Coles