Rare White Whale Returns to Australia, Delighting His Local Fans

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This week, an extremely rare albino whale was spotted off the coast of Australia. The whale's name is Migaloo, the Aboriginal word for "white fellow." This is the third year in a row Migaloo has been spotted on his annual migration, lovingly referred to as a whale parade. Now Australian Migaloo watchers are tracking his every movement — on Thursday he was spotted making his way past the Sydney coast.

Migaloo is one of only a few documented all-white humpback whales in the world. Another all-white whale was spotted in Norway, and a mostly white whale has been seen off the coast of Argentina.

He was first seen in 1991 as a juvenile. It is unclear how old Migaloo is, but scientists estimate he is in his twenties, so he might be a millennial whale. Like any good millennial, he has an active Twitter account, @Migaloo1. 

Whale watchers in Australia were able to catch a glimpse of Migaloo, but overall, experts recommend steering clear of humpbacks as too much noise and chasing can exhaust them, deterring their migration. You definitely shouldn't try to ride one. In fact, it is against the law to get within 500 meters of Migaloo. 

Here's Migaloo frolicking in the wild:

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.