Famous white humpback whale Migaloo arrives early

Whale boffins believe they may know why Migaloo, the 40-tonne, 15m tourist drawcard, has arrived in Queensland well ahead of schedule.

MIGALOO, the world-famous white humpback whale, is back with a splash on the Great Barrier Reef – but just why is a “million dollar question”.

“We’re all baffled,’’ Oskar Peterson, founder of the White Whale Research Centre, told The Courier-Mail.

“It is amazing, but strange and unusual to have Migaloo so far north this early in the whale season.”

Migaloo thrilled passengers and crew aboard Silversonic, Quicksilver’s Port Douglas based dive and snorkel vessel. Picture: Indepth Photography/Quicksilver.

Whale boffins believe the mystical 40-tonne, 15m tourist drawcard, who has been previously spotted off New Zealand or south of Byron Bay at this time of the year, may be on a mission to get his glow on for the annual mating season.

“Whales get a yellow algae growth on the skin that dies off in the warm Reef waters,” whale guru Dr Wally Franklin, of the Oceania Project, said.

“Maybe it’s to polish up his act.’’

Migaloo played for ten minutes – performing pirouettes – for onlookers on QuickSilver’s Silversonic dive trip near Agincourt Reef off Port Douglas on Thursday and has been seen in now confirmed sightings by other reef operators.

Expert analysis confirmed it was the iconic albino adult male by the unique markings on his tail, backbone, dorsal fin and grid pattern similar to a human fingerprint.

He turns 30-years-old this year.

Migaloo is the iconic figurehead for the annual migration of about 30,000 humpback whales for calving, mating, socialising or just hanging out on the Reef, according to whale whisperer John Rumney, of Great Barrier Reef Legacy.

“He’s a very special animal, one-in-a-million, straight out of the mythology of Moby Dick and the legend of the white whale,” he said.

Migaloo putting on an amazing show breaching out of the water off Port Douglas in far north Queensland. Picture: Indepth Photography/Quicksilver

Mr Rumney, who has spent 30 years diving with whales, said they were a curious, intelligent marine mammal with “their own personalities”.

“If you do the right thing, don’t harass them, they will decide to come over and check you out.

“It’s one of the greatest human-animal interactions on the planet.’’

Port Douglas-based Wavelength reef cruises has also had Migaloo encounters in recent days.

“He’s amazing to see,’’ Wavelength owner Jenny Edmondson said.

“He’s the colour of an iceberg. Hopefully he’ll hang around.’’