Jul 06 2008
Move over Moby Dick, make way for Migaloo
Meet Migaloo, a large albino humpback whale who travels regularly along the east coast of Australia during the whale migration season from late June to October.
Forget Moby Dick. The fictional white whale is legendary, but the magnificent Migaloo is living, a wondrous and unique mammal of great beauty. Records have been kept for over a century of the tens of thousands of humpback whales - but no one has seen an albino before. You don’t have to tag Migaloo with a marker, there is no other like him in all of the waters of the world.
His name means White Fella in an Australian Aboriginal language, and his whiteness, glowing under the water, is just breathtaking.
Like most humpbacks near the Australian east coast, Migaloo heads south to Antarctic waters to feed on krill swarms. There, the whales are joined at the annual binge by other cetaceans, including Fin Whales, the second-biggest on Earth after the Blue Whale. Few people ever have a chance to see a Fin, a whale of the remote deep ocean.
Like the most fabled of whales, Migaloo is elusive. The white fella has been seen many times off the east coast of Australia over the past 15 years, but has also disappeared for up to three years at a time.
In 2004 an historic genetic test from skin samples taken by researchers as the whale traveled on the southern migration, confirmed that Migaloo is definitely male.
This is the first time a genetic sample has been taken from an albino whale or dolphin and the Southern Cross University staff were understandably delighted.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has named its Antarctic Whale Defense Campaign of 2007-08, Operation Migaloo.
This year, with the sights of the ruthless Japanese harpooners set square on the endangered humpbacks, Migaloo and all of his family are under imminent threat of death at the hands of Japanese pirate whalers. As the relentless Japanese whalers seek to hunt down and kill Migaloo and his family, Sea Shepherd will be hunting the whalers with the firm objective of intervention against their illegal activities.
Further Resources
1000 Blogs Protest Against Whaling
Migaloo in a Slideshow Shaka Sportfishing Charters
Migaloo on Video
Like to shout me a cold beer?
Ooh, look at me smiling out from your EntreCard today! You would not believe what goes on here at night when you are fast asleep. Don’t worry, what happens with Roxy stays with Roxy….thanks for letting me “advertise” with you.
Also here to give you my Saturday afternoon Battle of the Blogs vote…that Diva is a tough competitor, but I like your fresh content.
Roxy