{"id":281263,"date":"2025-11-13T07:21:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T07:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/281263\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T07:21:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T07:21:13","slug":"albino-whale-on-australias-east-coast-sparks-concern-over-thin-appearance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/281263\/","title":{"rendered":"Albino whale on Australia’s east coast sparks concern over thin appearance"},"content":{"rendered":"

A white humpback that created a buzz as Australia’s second albino whale\ufeff now has some concerned over its health and unusual migration pattern.<\/p>\n

But while humpback whales migrate thousands of kilometres south to Antarctica \ufeffto feed, the albino, fondly named “Siale”, is travelling north.<\/p>\n

\"AA white juvenile spotted off the NSW South Coast last week was confirmed to be albino.\ufeff (Khynan Gardner\/ORRCA)<\/p>\n

Her 10-metre-long body also appears thin. \ufeff<\/p>\n

Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans (ORRCA) \ufeffspokesperson Pip Jacobs confirmed Siale had lost body condition.<\/p>\n

“Based on the current information and footage we have of Siale, we can’t draw any conclusions about her health,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It’s unusual to see a humpback whale travelling north at this time of year.\ufeff<\/p>\n

“We’re hopeful Siale will soon turn south as well, where she can feed and rebuild her strength and condition ahead of next year’s migration.”<\/p>\n

Jacobs urged anyone who spots her to share footage, which can help experts get a better understanding of her health and movements. \ufeff<\/p>\n

Humpback whales will return to warmer waters on the East Coast between April to November.<\/p>\n

ORRCA was able to confirm Siale’s \ufeffalbinism late last week due to her red eyes and total lack of pigmentation.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/Migaloo was first spotted in 1991 as it passed through Byron Bay. (AAP)<\/p>\n

“True albinism in humpback whales is extraordinarily rare, occurring in only about one in 40,000 births,” the organisation said.<\/p>\n

“The only other confirmed albino humpback on the Australian east coast is Migaloo, making this identification a truly historic moment.”<\/p>\n

Migaloo, \ufeffan albino adult male first spotted in Byron Bay in 1991, has not been seen since the last sighting off Port Macquarie in June 2020.<\/p>\n

ORRCA, \ufeffwith the help of Whale Discoveries, was able to identify Siale as a female calf first documented in Tonga.<\/p>\n

Experts \ufeffused previous and current footage to analyse her tail, which is unique to each whale, similar to a human fingerprint. \ufeff<\/p>\n

Due to special legislation, white whales have an exclusion zone of at least 500m for swimmers, surfers and vessels and 100m for drones. \ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A white humpback that created a buzz as Australia’s second albino whale\ufeff now has some concerned over its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281264,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-281263","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}