Rare ‘albino humpback’ white whale spotted off Australian coast

Footage has emerged of what’s believed to be an extremely rare albino humpback whale calf, cruising off the NSW coast.

A white whale calf has been spotted off the NSW coast. Picture: Instagram

Drone footage has emerged of what’s believed to be an extremely rare albino humpback whale calf, cruising with its mother off the NSW coast.

Ocean watchers have been urged to keep an eye out for the strikingly beautiful calf, which is believed to be travelling northward, to help confirm whether it is indeed albino.

If the young whale is confirmed to be an albino humpback, it would be just the second of its kind ever to be spotted along Australia’s east coast.

Batemans Bay photographer Dylan Golden, who captured the footage of the calf, said he had been photographing whales for almost two hours on June 28 when he came across the incredible sight.

Mr Golden said he directed his drone to hover about a kilometre off the coastline at Burrewarra Point on the NSW far south coast, and was surprised to find a whale migrating with its young, seemingly white-coloured calf.

“I was shocked. I didn’t know how to react or really believe it was one until I looked back on the footage and saw how white it was,” Mr Golden told the ABC.

“I was in awe.”

Mr Golden said he followed the mother and calf as they travelled north, before losing the pair when they dived out of sight.

Migaloo is the only known albino humpback on Australia’s east coast. Picture: Indepth Photography, Quicksilver

Oceania Project founder Wally Franklin said the footage was “absolutely intriguing” and worthy of investigation, though conceded it did not conclusively prove the whale calf was albino.

“It is very difficult to declare it as an albino whale, but I’d be interested to see more information about it,” Dr Franklin said.

“It’s obviously a very young calf — only three or four metres long.”

Dr Franklin said the likelihood of a humpback whale being born albino was about one in 40,000. Only one such whale, the beloved Migaloo, has ever been spotted on Australia’s east coast.

Ocean watchers were encouraged to keep an eye out for the young calf. Picture: Instagram

“The footage is worthy of raising the question, but also putting the call out for people to help contribute to the science,” Dr Franklin said.

“Hopefully someone might spot this whale again.”

Migaloo, the only known albino whale in Australian waters, hasn’t been seen since 2020. He travels from the NSW south coast as far north as Port Douglas in Queensland.

Migaloo is believed to have been born in 1986. He’s suspected to be an albino whale but as scientists don’t know for sure, he’s currently defined as a hyper-pigmented humpback.

The sighting of the young, pale calf comes amid a stellar whale watching season along the NSW coast.

Nearly 5000 humpbacks have been spotted in Aussie waters in a record-breaking annual migration, as they make a 10,000-kilometre journey from their Antarctic summer feeding grounds to winter breeding grounds further north.