Abstract
In 1992, an American marine environment researcher observed a distinctive white humpback whale off the Queensland coast and named it ‘Migaloo’. The nickname is a term meaning Whitefella among Aboriginal people in Queensland. It was suggested by a local Indigenous man and his aunt (the latter was said to be a ‘revered aboriginal elder’) after the whale researcher contacted them to express interest in finding an appropriate Aboriginal name. The website of the Pacific Whale Foundation now suggests to a world hungry for information about what has become a highly charismatic animal that Aboriginal people regard all ‘albinos’ – whether humans, kangaroos, crocodiles or whales – as ‘special beings’, ‘perhaps signs or tokens from the spirit world’.1 Thus, Migaloo the white cetacean has become an object of desire for those who celebrate whales as an inspiring species of nature; its name, deemed to be from everyday speech among Aboriginal people, may be understood to mean that Migaloo belongs in the marine environments of Australia.2
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Invasive and Introduced Plants and Animals |
Subtitle of host publication | Human Perceptions, Attitudes and Approaches to Management |
Publisher | Taylor & Francis |
Pages | 109-120 |
Number of pages | 12 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9780203525753 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2012 |
Externally published | Yes |