White whale Migaloo spotted on the Sydney Opera House thanks to Byron photographer Craig Parry

An image of Migaloo taken by Byron photographer Craig Parry was projected on the Sydney Opera House sails on Tuesday as part of Ocean World Day celebrations.

An image of Migaloo taken by Byron Shire photographer Craig Parry was projected on the Sydney Opera House sails on Tuesday night, part of Ocean World Day celebrations.

Migaloo is a popular white humpback whale that travels along the Australian east coast during the yearly whale migration between June and November.

The aerial image was part of a video prepared especially to mark the date.

Back in Byron Bay, Mr Parry said he was very excited about the event in Sydney.

“This was a collaboration with a few other artists to recognise the contribution and conservation effort of Valerie Taylor AM for sharks and the environment, and to celebrate her life and her art,” he said.

“After we hit the button at the Opera House, we went to Taronga Zoo and had a dinner with about 150 people.

“I managed to sell one of my new limited edition images of Migaloo, and $5000 from that went to international marine conservation projects in repopulating the leopard shark around the world.”

The award-winning photographer said the image projected on the Sydney Opera House was a very special one.

“That was an image I captured off Byron Bay in 2017,” he said.

“The image that was auctioned off (on Tuesday) was my limited edition piece of Migaloo underwater, which I photographed in 2016, a colour version of the one on my website.

“That image had not been released to the public until Tuesday.

“It was humbling and it felt great to be a part of something so big.”

Mr Parry said he hoped reports that Migaloo may have died — because he has not been seen for a couple of years off the coast of Australia — were wrong.

“There has been years when he has not migrated past the coast of Australia,” he said.

“I am hoping that he was just a little bit unwell, he is only around 35, quite young for a humpback whale.

“I’d expect him to pass our region mid July if he is well.”

During the Sydney celebrations, conservationist, photographer and filmmaker Valerie Taylor was named ‘Queen of the Ocean’

Mrs Taylor, with late husband Ron Taylor, made documentaries about sharks, and filmed sequences for films including Jaws (1975), Orca (1976) and TV series such as Skippy (1968) and Flipper (1995).