He’s Australia’s most famous white whale.
But Migaloo hasn’t been seen since 2020 – and he may never be seen again.
A new report claims he could have died tangled in a shark net that went missing in 2021.
The Envoy Foundation report claims that last year, 614 other animals were caught in shark nets, including 11 humpback whales, 12 dolphins, two dugongs, 38 turtles, and hundreds of non-target sharks.
It claims more than 70 per cent of those animals were found dead.
“Migaloo is known to be in that area at that time, the shark net did go missing when he’s known to be in that area,” Andre Borell said.
“Migaloo is a large bull, a large male humpback, he’s capable of breaking a net and swimming off with it.
“Queensland’s shark culling program doesn’t just kill sharks, it kills a bunch of other things.
“When these animals are caught it will then attract larger sharks into shore for an easy feed as well.
“It’s not the silver bullet that they think it is and we have to stop pretending that.”
The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries rejected the claims.
“There is absolutely no evidence that Migaloo has ever come into contact with Shark Control Program equipment and that the Government will continue to do everything it can to ensure the safety of water users while minimising impacts on other marine life,” it said, in a statement.
The government defended the program, saying in the 62 years since it began there have been only two fatal shark attacks on protected beaches.
“We make sure that our swimmers, our tourists, our Queenslanders are safe first and foremost,” government minister Shannon Fentiman said.
