What is so special about Migaloo?
The gorgeous 55 ton all white humpback whale was sighted with five other whales as they made their annual migration from the Antarctica to the breeding areas off Queensland Australia. Migaloo, which means 'White Fella' in the native Australian language, was first spotted off Australia's Byron Bay in 1991. Migaloo was the first white humpback whale ever documented. Migaloo follows roughly the same migration path up and down the east coast of Australia, there are many years when he manages to sneak away, without being seen. He has lots of fans.
Cite a few facts from the article that tell you how precious Migaloo is to the people of Australia.
Not surprisingly, he became an instant local darling and was immediately elevated to the status of 'special interest whale'. He might be the only white whale in the world. Over the years, Migaloo's fans have also built several websites dedicated to his every move and even set up an active Facebook page and Twitter account in his honour. While experts believe that Migaloo's colour is caused by a genetic skin condition called albinism, they have been unable to confirm it with scientific evidence. 'Special interest whale'. This means that boats and jet-skis have to keep a distance of at least 500 meters, while airplanes have to be more than 2,000 meters away from the mammal. Anybody caught violating this rule is subject to a fine exceeding $12,500 AUD.
Why is Migaloo known as a 'hypo-pigmented' humpback? is he the only one?
They therefore refer to him as a 'hypo-pigmented' humpback. They call him that because hypo-pigmented means loss of colour and because he is white and normal humpbacks are black its look like he's lost his colour. We never know if he is the only one in the world but I like it would be a great to se such a rare whale. Maybe if the white whale went to breeding areas there might be more white whales but I guess we will never know.
Critical Thinking Challenge:
Do you think Migaloo's special colour helps or hurts him from human predators? Why
I think that it would be quite a bad colour for predators because it doesn't really blend well with the water but I think that the mum and dad would protected him. Because he is so bright the predators might think I want to be the one who captures the whale so I think it will hurt him.
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