A rare white humpback whale calf has been spotted at Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia, but whether it is a true albino or not is yet to be determined.
Key points:
- A white humpback whale calf has been spotted off WA’s north-west coast
- The calf and its mother were seen by tour groups and scientists around Ningaloo Reef
- Humpback whales migrate through the region between June and October
Live Ningaloo photographer Brooke Pyke was out on the water on Tuesday morning with a tour group when they saw the young calf with its mother about 2 kilometres from shore.
“We’d heard a bit of a rumour from the boats ahead of us that there had been a white humpback calf spotted,” she said.
“We were driving in the direction that it was seen, then all of a sudden we see this huge mother humpback whale come up to the surface to take a breath and then right next to her is this tiny, bright white calf.”
Ms Pyke said everyone on board was in awe of the truly special moment.
“I just quickly took a few photos,” she said.
“I was kind of shaking in excitement and I couldn’t really hold the camera very still.”
Ms Pyke, an Exmouth local, said she had enjoyed some incredible experiences on the Ningaloo Reef but this one rated among the best.
“Knowing that not many people get the chance to actually set their eyes on a pure white humpback whale, that really stands out to me,” she said.
“I don’t think I’ll ever forget today.”
A rare event
Cetacean Research Centre researcher John Totterdell has been studying whales up and down the WA coast for more than 30 years.
He was out surveying whales with colleagues on Tuesday afternoon when his group also came across the white calf.
“I don’t think anyone has seen a pure white one up here [at Ningaloo],” Mr Totterdell said.
“Maybe they have but it’s certainly very rare and we’ve been studying humpbacks up here for nearly 20 years now.
“We’ve seen a few that have got like maybe half the body and even the top sides white.
“But personally, I’ve never seen one that’s all white, 100 per cent, like this.”
Southern Hemisphere humpbacks include a lot more white pigments in their colouration than their northern cousins.
Leucism is a condition where an animal has reduced pigmentation, leading to lighter or white colouring, but true albinism is when a creature is all white and usually has pink or red eyes.
One of the most well-known humpbacks on Australia’s east coast is the albino whale Migaloo, which has brownish eyes.
A handful of white whale calves have been spotted on the west coast over the past few years including one near Dampier in 2018.
Messages from Antarctica
The Ningaloo coast is a significant stopping point for many humpback mothers and calves as part of an annual migration from Antarctica.
Mr Totterdell is part of a team gathering biopsies as part of the Humpback Whale Sentinel Program, which helps inform scientists about conditions further south.
“Humpbacks are messengers from Antarctica,” he said.
“By sampling the blubber we can see what they’ve been eating in the previous feeding season down in Antarctica, and in turn see the health of the sea ice ecosystem.
“At least six of the Southern Hemisphere populations have been sampled during the breeding and calving season in the tropics off Africa, off South America, off Australia.”
Mr Totterdell said the whales also played an important role in bringing nutrients up from Antarctica to feed “the reef up here”.
“A lot of the calves get taken by killer whales,” he said.
“A lot of those calves’ carcasses end up on the reef, so there’s a lot of nutrient transfer going on, which is one of those big picture stories, which is really cool.”