Rare whale not seen for years may have just surfaced off New Zealand, photos show

Georgia Phelps hopped in her car and hightailed it toward the coast of New Zealand in pursuit of one of the world’s rarest sea creatures.

A friend had texted moments earlier: A white humpback whale had been spotted off Goose Bay — located on the eastern side of the South Island — around dusk on Oct. 10.

Sure enough, upon arriving, Phelps noticed spouts of water rising from the sea. Then, the pale, glistening creature emerged from beneath the waves.

“You could only see it for a few seconds until it disappeared again, and then would re-appear every 10-15 minutes to the surface,” Phelps, the manager of the nearby Mangamaunu Retreat, told McClatchy News via email.

She watched in amazement for hours as the sun set, snapping a few grainy photos.

“It was a very magical experience, as I didn’t even know white whales existed ...,” Phelps said. “None of us had ever seen anything like this before!”

The sighting has caused a stir in the country and the broader region, as experts believe the whale could be the elusive Migaloo, an extremely rare, decades-old all-white humpback.

Rare Migaloo sighting?

“Migaloo is the most famous of them all, first observed off the east coast of Australia in 1991,” Rochelle Constantine, a marine biologist at the University of Auckland, told McClatchy News.

The ivory-hued creature — whose name translates to “white fella” in Australian Aboriginal — is confirmed to be albino, a highly unusual condition in whales, according to the Pacific Whale Foundation. In fact, it was the only true albino whale confirmed to exist in the 20th century.

And it is one of only four white whales ever documented across the globe, according to The New Zealand Herald.

Since 1991, the marine mammal has only been observed a handful of times. In 2015, he swam through New Zealand’s Cook Strait, and a biopsy was taken, allowing for genetic confirmation.

The whale — which would be at least 34 years old today — was last seen off Australia in 2020, and a photo indicated his body was in “poor” condition, Constantine said.

Experts aren’t sure whether this newly sighted whale is the famed Migaloo, but they say it is possible.

“There isn’t enough information to say this whale is Migaloo as there are several white whales,” Constantine said. “If someone could get a photo of his fluke or a skin sample we would be able to confirm identity, but for now, it’s a great sighting of a humpback whale, a species that is slowly coming back from near extinction which is great news.”

Migaloo belongs to the east Australian humpback population, which was believed to number around 17,000 in 2012.

Vanessa Pirotta, an Australian wildlife scientist, also said it is difficult to definitively identify the newly observed whale.

“We can’t confirm the identity of this whale with the little images we have,” Pirotta told McClatchy News. “If it’s not him, this definitely points to the rarity of white whales and is another bus sized creature to connect millions around the world with the ocean.”

No matter the whale’s identity, it is probably migrating southward to Antarctica, where it will feast on krill, Constantine said.

“We have put out a call for New Zealand to keep their eyes peeled to hopefully spot this whale once again before it heads south to Antarctica for the austral summer,” Pirotta said.

Phelps counts herself lucky to have witnessed the majestic creature.

“Whether it is indeed the famed Migaloo or even a different white whale, we’re all very stoked to have seen it,” she said.

This story was originally published October 16, 2025 at 10:10 AM with the headline "Rare whale not seen for years may have just surfaced off New Zealand, photos show."