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Rare albino whale and baby spotted off Australia coast
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An albino humpback whale, known as Migaloo, was spotted traveling with another white whale off the coast of Australia.
One of the ocean's sea-lebrities, a 46-foot-long white humpback whale named Migaloo, has been spotted off the Australian coast with a second white whale, and scientists are eager to find out whether the two are related.
Migaloo, an aboriginal word for "white fella," was seen traveling on June 13. He had been the only known white humpback whale, Austrlia's Herald Sun reported. But another, likely his offspring, was first photographed in 2011 and seen with him again in the latest sighting. Migaloo was first spotted in 1991, and a skin sample was used to identify his gender in 2004.
Scientists are hoping to acquire DNA samples to see if Migaloo and the newcomer are indeed family.
Video: Humpback, orca, and grey whales making a splash in Monterey Bay
"Maybe this will be the year we uncover the mystery of this rare pair of white whales,'' Xanthe Rivett, a photographer with The White Whale Research Centre, told the newspaper.
Between 12,000 and 15,000 humpback whales are expected to make the journey between the cold waters of the Antarctic and the warmer Great Barrier Reef for this year's mating season.
