
Migaloo the albino whale was seen happily splashing off the coastline of Wellington, New Zealand on Sunday as whale researchers were treated to a show by the majestic animal.

His last sighting in 2014 revealed red marks covering his dorsal fin, which whale expert Professor Peter Harrison from Southern Cross University attributed to either skin cancer or infection.

The rare white whale was spotted by the Department of Conservation as part of their annual Cook Strait whale survey.

Migaloo is one of only four albino humpback whales spotted in the wild, seen here flourishing in the Cook Strait

Last year his dorsal fin was covered in red spots, believed to be potential signs of suffering from skin cancer or an infection

The sighting took place during the fourth and final week of the annual whale survey, aimed at assessing the trajectory of humpback whale numbers since commercial whaling was banned over 50 years ago.

Whale survey leader Nadine Bott told the New Zealand Herald of the sighting, 'It's a once in a lifetime thing, that's for sure'.

Migaloo, which is Aboriginal for 'whitefella', has been spotted every year since 1991 off the Australian east coast as he migrates north from Antarctica to warmer waters.

Humpback whales migrate north of Antarctica to breed in the warmer waters of Australia and New Zealand

The survey started 11 years ago and this year is the best on record for sightings.

Mrs Bott said: 'it's been really successful. So far we've seen 122 humpbacks with four days to go. Our best year was 106 whales in 2012, so by all accounts we're breaking records.'

There are three other known albino whales in the wild, two of which are calves and the other seen in Norwegian waters.