Culture

Where Oh Where Is Migaloo, Australia’s Favourite White Whale?

Authorities ruled that a white whale carcass discovered on a Victorian beach was NOT Migaloo, so where the hell is he?!

by Charles Rushforth  18 July 2022

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There is something foul hanging in the air — the birds have lost their chirp, and the winter sun has no warmth. Perhaps it is all because Migaloo, Australia’s iconic white whale, has not been seen in over two years.

After a white whale carcass was discovered washed up on a beach in eastern Victoria last week, many feared that Migaloo — the beloved albino humpback whale whose yearly migrations are usually lovingly observed by Australians on the east coast  — had been finally discovered dead after being missing for two long years.

But after an official examination of the dead whale in question, Victorian national park authorities ruled that the corpse bore slightly different markings to the ubiquitous humpback, the mammal in question marooned on Mallacoota beach was slightly younger and belonged to a different sex. It was not Migaloo.

Named after the Biri word for ‘ghost’ or ‘spirit’ — which many Indigenous languages also use for the word ‘white person’ — Migaloo was first discovered by researchers in Byron Bay back in 1991. For over two decades, people have marked their years by counting the annual migration of the fifteen-metre-long humpback as he a round trip from the icy Antarctic waters to the warmer currents of the Great Barrier Reef.

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By the estimation of marine biologists, Migaloo is approximately 33 years old. Scientists suspect that his albino appearance is the result of a genetic abnormality, a condition that has also been associated with hearing impairment, lower heat absorption in cold waters, and greater eye and skin sensitivity in humpback whales.

So while Migaloo’s lifespan might be shorter than the average humpback whale (who roughly live to be between 45 and 50 years old in the wild) there are humpbacks that have been known to comfortably live into their 80s and 90s.  So if Migaloo isn’t dead, then where is he?

The leading theory is that Migaloo has simply given researchers the slip by embarking on his migration either early or late, or by finding a new route altogether. He could also be spending some time in New Zealand, where he has been known to occasionally stop and grab a feed.

“We do know that Migaloo would be now most likely undertaking that migration back to Antarctica, but he may also stop off and have a bit snack on his southward transition down there,” Whale biologist Dr Vanessa Pirotta told the ABC last year.

“What this is suggesting is that Migaloo might just be representative of what other humpback whales in this population are doing,”

“Maybe most of them will be going up the east coast of Australia, but from time to time they might actually go up to the waters of New Zealand and then cross the ditch and come over, or vice versa.” 

Regardless, Migaloo’s long absence along with the recent discovery of an identical dead white whale feels very spooky, almost something from Twin Peaks. Could Migaloo be stuck in a David Lynch-esque red room?

But despite the human urge to conclusive know where Migaloo is, that’s just not how nature works. Migaloo could simply be living his best life, swimming free from the petty fame and noisy spectators that have shadowed him for much of his life. Or he could be dead meat, injured by discarded fishing equipment and other human debris that threaten hundreds of humpback whales every year.

Migaloo, baby — you’ve taught me that if you really love something, you have to let it go.