A Baby Albino Humpback Whale Has Been Spotted Off The North Coast Of NSW
Our obsession over baby animals is no secret, so when we heard that what appears to be an albino humpback whale calf was paddling along the north coast of NSW on the weekend, you better believe we just about lost our minds.
Um, did Migaloo have a baby and we didn’t get the memo?
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The humpback calf was spotted just off the stretch of coast between Byron Bay and Ballina at Lennox Head, by local Ballina man Kynan Wall while he was paragliding in the area.
“Initially I could only see the mother whale, but then the little whale calf surfaced beside her,” Kynan told AWOL. “It was a thrilling encounter!”
Director of Southern Cross University‘s Marine Ecology Research Centre, Peter Harrison, said it was an “unusual” find, ABC reported.
“We estimate that the population of migrating whales along the east coast of Australia this year will be something around 33,000, but relatively few of them are all white,” he told the publication.
People have been speculating that the calf could potentially be the offspring of Australia’s best-known humpback whale, Migaloo, but Kynan has some doubts.
“It’s still unclear whether this calf is actually albino or if it will get darker as it ages, but I’d like to think that Migaloo had something to do with it!” he says. “We’ve (unofficially) named the calf ‘Yirili’, a local Bundjalung word which has the same meaning as Migaloo, ‘white person’.”
Migaloo’s baby or not, we’re super excited to see a baby albino humpback swimming around. It’s whale watching season folks, so go get amongst it! And if you want to check out the whales around the North Coast, check out Out of The Blue Adventures, for premier whale watching experiences.
Check out Qantas flights and begin your next adventure.
(All Images: Kynan Wall)
