A rare white whale calf has been seen in waters off the Whitsundays in north Queensland.

Marine experts believe the whale was born in the north only weeks ago.

Tourist Wayne Fewings was on a boat when he took a photo of the white humpback calf.

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority spokesman Dr Mark Read says the picture indicates the whale is at least of couple of weeks old.

He says it is difficult to speculate on the calf's lineage but the offspring is from parents that both carry the white gene.

Dr Read says it is unknown if the unnamed whale is related to the famous white humpback Migaloo.

"We don't know - it would be pure speculation," he said.

"We would have to get genetic information from the calf and then be able to analyse that to ascertain its relationship to Migaloo.

"We know from basic genetics that this animal could have actually come from a dark mum and a dark father."