A sighting of a rare white humpback whale left Kaikōura locals “very excited” after they were lucky enough to catch a glimpse.
The manager of Mangamaunu Retreat, Georgia Phelps, told 1News she was alerted to the unique sight by her friend Abi in a group chat last Friday evening.
“We shot down the road to Goose Bay and spotted a group of humpback whales,” Phelps said.
“It was awesome, I have lived here for a few years and never seen anything like it.”
‘It was awesome’ – Rare white whale sighting off Kaikōura – watch on TVNZ+
Phelps said her partner is a kayak guide and he had also never spotted a white whale before.
“The white whale was shadowing another one closely so I wonder if it was a calf or had a calf?” she speculated.
The group watched the whales for around an hour and half and managed to spot the white whale breaching the water a number of times.
Phelps managed to snap some pictures, but said it was difficult to catch good shots at such a distance.
The friends wondered if the whale they saw was the famous Migaloo, first spotted in Australia’s Byron Bay in 1991.
Migaloo made an appearance in New Zealand waters in 2015, when he was spotted passing through Cook Strait.
Dr Rochelle Constantine, a professor of Marine Ecology at the University of Auckland, told RNZ’s Morning Report there are four white whales known to pass through eastern Australian waters and without a photo of the underside of the whale’s tail or a biopsy sample it will be impossible to tell if it is indeed Migaloo.
“They stand out, you can’t miss the white whales,” she said.
However, the last time Migaloo was spotted was in 2020 and he wasn’t in great condition when observed before that in 2019 Dr Constantine said.
“We haven’t seen him for a long time and as I said the white whales do stick out.”
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