Boat skipper John Gibbs said: “I thought: wow, that whale is white”.
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The whale appears to resemble Australia’s famous white whale nicknamed “Migaloo” (aboriginal for “white fella”) that’s been spotted nearly every year since 1991 off the Queensland coast.
Researchers on an annual winter humpback survey of the strait between North and South Islands used the sighting on Sunday to take the first known dart biopsy of Migaloo’s skin layer.
The whale survey is into it’s fourth week and concludes on Friday.
Survey leader, Nadine Bott, said distinctive features on the whale like those on Migaloo strongly indicated it was the same whale.
The rare white whale was spotted by the Department of Conservation as part of their annual Cook Strait whale survey.
Previously it was believed that the whale could live around 48 years, but recent research indicates that it can ever reach 96 years.
A rare white whale has been spotted in Cook Strait.
Researchers took samples of whale skin to compare the DNA with the already stored DNA of Migaloo.
They include the dorsal fin’s shape and also distinctive spiny protuberances behind the dorsal fin. “Only four have been reported in the world”, said Nadine Bott, in the release.
The scientists chose this strait since it is a known migratory route for those whales wanting to travel north of the Antarctic to meet with their friends from Eastern Australia. The government of Australia has banned boats and aircraft from entering the area where Migaloo, who is now 24 years old, is photographed or recorded. “So that’s quite exciting, because as far as I’m aware that’s the first time that Migaloo has been sighted in New Zealand waters”.
As a true romantic, reports claim that Migaloo usually swims along with other ordinary humpbacks, particularly females, and follows the same practices as normal males willing to engage in the mating ritual. Bott said there is a promising indication humpback whale numbers are increasing in our waters.
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But as an albino, Migaloo may be more likely to be infertile, or to have a compromised immune system, he said.
