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A rare albino humpback whale washed up ashore in Australia. The dead animal may be the only humpback whale known to date, the Migaloo, that scientists have tracked for decades.
The whale washed up in southeastern Australia, on a deserted beach that can only be reached by sea. The mammal was found this morning by a person who lives near by fishing with his canoe. “It looked amazing,” he told Sky News. “The whole animal was white as marble. It looked like a statue.”
It is not clear how long the humpback whale has been ashore. According to the man who found it, it smelled really little, but it wasn’t yet clear that the corpse was decomposing.
Megalo
So it might be the Migaloo, which was first seen off the Australian coast in 1991. The male is the only known humpback whale with albinism (without skin pigment) and has been described by Australian media as famous marine life.
Since its discovery, the Migaloo has been tracked by scientists via a chip. He went missing two years ago because he lost his chip.
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Environmental Protection Agency
Megalo photos from 2006 -
Environmental Protection Agency
Migaloo was also filmed in 2009
Scientists are now trying to determine if this is really a Migaloo based on the photos and genetic material. According to experts, the location where the humpback whale was found matches a well-known pattern of travel. The animal appears slightly smaller than Megalo’s possible length.
Humpback whales live on average from 45 to 50 years. If the washed animal is indeed a Migaloo, it is estimated that it has reached the age of 36 years.
Scientists who have followed Megalo for decades share information about identifying the washed-up animal via the Twitter account of an albino hunchback:
