{"id":211821,"date":"2025-10-14T07:46:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T07:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/211821\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T07:46:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T07:46:10","slug":"frenzy-of-excitement-after-potential-sighting-of-white-whale-migaloo-off-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/211821\/","title":{"rendered":"Frenzy of excitement after potential sighting of white whale Migaloo off coast"},"content":{"rendered":"

Excitement is brewing that Migaloo, the world-famous white whale, <\/a>may have been spotted again for the first time in five years. The humpback had been a regular visitor to Australia since 1991, when he was spotted in Byron Bay, and he\u2019s believed to be around 38 years old.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s remarkable about the new potential sighting is that it was made off New Zealand\u2019s South Island, close to where he once ventured a decade ago.<\/p>\n

Georgia Phelps, the UK-born manager of New Zealand\u2019s Mangamaunu Retreat, shared a series of photos with Yahoo News showing a white whale swimming along the Kaikoura Coast.<\/p>\n

Before her mate, Abi, messaged her about the strange whale on Friday evening in a group chat, she\u2019d never heard of Migaloo. \u201cI didn\u2019t even know white whales existed. So I grabbed a camera and went for a drive,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The whale\u2019s appearance was so distinct, Georgia and Abi began searching for similar sightings online and stumbled across the name Migaloo.<\/p>\n

The women\u2019s excitement has been shared by international whale experts and media outlets on both sides of the \u201cditch\u201d. \u201cMy phone has been going crazy, I can\u2019t believe it. It\u2019s so exciting, and great to have good news for a change,\u201d Georgia said.<\/p>\n

For around two hours, they watched the white whale swim with a pod of five to eight more whales, around 300 metres off the coast. \u201cIt was, it was just a really nice, wholesome feeling that it was something incredible that you never expect to see,\u201d Georgia added.<\/p>\n

Could this be Migaloo?<\/p>\n

1 of 4<\/p>\n

This white whale was seen swimming off the coast of New Zealand’s South Island. Source: Georgia Phelps<\/p>\n

Is Migaloo the only white whale?<\/p>\n

Whale experts around Australia had hotly debated what happened to Migaloo<\/a>. Some feared the worst, but others noted that whales commonly stray from their regular migratory routes. In July, the vice president of Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA), Steve Trikoulis, described his disappearance as a \u201cmystery\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Macquarie University whale expert Dr Vanessa Pirotta, said she\u2019d always felt \u201coptimistic\u201d about Migaloo still being alive.<\/p>\n

Most of the so-called white whale sightings that she sees are actually just pictures of them upside down, exposing their pale bellies. But in Georgia\u2019s photos, you can clearly see his dorsal fin and mouth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes the case for a really strong likelihood this could be him,\u201d she told Yahoo.<\/p>\n

While white whale sightings are rare, two calves with light colouring were spotted in Tonga last year, and another one seen off the NSW coast<\/a> earlier this year. Others have been spotted in South America and the Northern Hemisphere.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

A sighting of the beloved white whale off the coast of Coffs Harbour in 2005. Source: AAP<\/p>\n

Scientist ‘incredibly excited by ‘Migaloo’ sighting<\/p>\n

Dr Pirotta believes the photographs warrant further investigation, and she\u2019s calling on Kiwis to report any sightings to local authorities. It’s unknown whether the humpback is still in New Zealand waters or whether the whale is drawing closer to Antarctica, because sometimes they can cruise at over 14km\/h, and other times they will stop and feed.<\/p>\n

Pirotta dedicated a chapter of her book, Humpback Highway, to Migaloo and she\u2019s clearly invested in his welfare. But she\u2019s working to evaluate the sighting as a scientist.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith my science hat on, I always make sure I\u2019m not overstating what could be. But as a general human being, I\u2019m incredibly excited,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Love Australia’s weird and wonderful environment? \ud83d\udc0a\ud83e\udd98\ud83d\ude33 Get our new newsletter<\/a> showcasing the week\u2019s best stories.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Excitement is brewing that Migaloo, the world-famous white whale, may have been spotted again for the first time…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[2840,49,48,102968,102967,102966,66,102965,102969,323],"class_list":{"0":"post-211821","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-georgia-phelps","12":"tag-kaikoura-coast","13":"tag-migaloo","14":"tag-science","15":"tag-white-whale","16":"tag-white-whales","17":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}