A close encounter with the Great White Whale

09 enero 2008

How would it be to have a sea enconunter with the world's only documented albino whale? Just like this:


This footage was captured 2007, on a fishing trip on Heron Island, Australia, and it's one of the rare occasions in which the mytical “Migaloo” has been filmed. This 46-foot-long whale is the world's only documented albino humpback whale, and has been a subject of fascination along the eastern coast of Australia.

Because of the intense interest, environmentalists feared that the whale was becoming distressed by the number of boats following it each day. In response, the Queensland and New South Wales governments introduce legislation each year to order the maintenance of a 500 m (1,600 ft) exclusion zone around the whale. Recent close up pictures have shown Migaloo to have skin cancer and/or skin cysts as a result of his lack of protection from the sun

But, is actually Migaloo the last living white whale at sea? In august, 2006, a whale and its eight-week-old calf were spotted sheltering in Strickland Bay, a public swimming beach on the south side of the tourist island. The Department of Environment and Conservation confirmed the baby whale was the first albino to be spotted in this part of Australia: