Many whales spotted daily off the Byron Bay coast, but where is Migaloo?

He is a rock star 30-something-year-old albino who tours Australia every year and has millions following his every move. We asked the experts when we can expect to spot this much-loved humpback.

He is a rock star 30-something-year-old albino who tours Australia every year and has millions following his every move.

Migaloo, the white whale, is expected to be sighted this year, according to Southern Cross University adjunct professor Dr Wally Franklin.

Dr Franklin and his wife, Dr Trish Franklin, moved from the Byron Shire to Hervey Bay last year after three decades studying the Hervey Bay humpback whale population.

Dr Franklin said although there were no confirmed reports of Migaloo in 2020, he trusts the marine mammal will be visiting soon.

“In the past few years, Migaloo has been spotted in June coming through Cook Strait, between the north and south islands of New Zealand,” he said.

“If he is going to turn up, it will be around this time. There are a lot of whales, and the population out there is likely to be in excess of 40,000.

“They are already coming south until the end of October or early November, so plenty of opportunity for whale watching, if Covid allows.

“It’s very possible we are going to see him soon.

“He normally turns up somewhere between Byron or the Gold Coast about a week later.”

The scientist said Dr Trish Franklin was always able to identify Migaloo, not just for his colouring.

“He has a very distinctive dorsal fin, very distinctive peduncle knobs on his back, and a very distinctive shape to the outer edge of his underside tail flip, so he is very easy to identify,” he said.

“As far as we know he is the only white whale, so far, every photo we have been sent of a while whale has turned out to be him.

“Last year there were no reliable sightings of him, but that doesn't mean he wasn’t here, it just means he wasn’t seen, which is quite unusual.

“He has been spotted just about every year of his life in the east coast of Australia.”

Drs Trish and Wally Franklin are founders of The Oceania Project and have studied Hervey Bay’s humpback whale population for 30 years. That research was the basis of their PhD research at Southern Cross University.

As a male humpback whale, Migaloo is a singer, and his singing was part of a CD release called Songlines.

“We actually spent time with Migaloo in Hervey Bay in 1992 and 1993, and that was spectacular, and the last time we saw him here was in 1998, when we were able to record his song, which is on a CD of hale songs that we produced,” Dr Franklin said.

“Being a singer, that confirms he is a male, because as far as we know, only male humpbacks sing.”

Dr Franklin said Dr Dan Burns, another SCU scientist, analysed Migaloo’s skin samples and proved he was, in fact, albino.

“As a consequence of his DNA make up, he is unable to create pigmentation in his body,” he said.

“Also from the skin sample we were able to affirm genetically that he is male.”

The expert said humpback whales live up to 100 years.

“There is every reason we’ll get to see him for many years yet,” he added.

Any suspected images or footage of Migaloo can be sent for verification to Dr Franklin at The Oceania project’s website.