A stunning photograph of Migaloo making his way up the eastern Australian coast has snagged a Byron Bay photographer a prestigious international award.

Titled The Ghost, Craig Parry's photo of the famed white whale won first place in the underwater world category at the 2017 Golden Turtle International Photography Competition in Moscow this week.

The 38-year-old was the only Australian to win a photography category at the awards, which attracted more than 10,000 entries across all categories.

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The Sony-sponsored photographer's winning shot was snapped off Byron Bay in July last year.

"It was by far the pinnacle of my career," he said.

"It was kind of random. We heard he went past Yamba the day before in the late afternoon so we worked out he should be hitting Byron Bay just on sunrise.

"We saw Migaloo breaching and putting on a show for the news helicopter.

"For about an hour he was breaching and slapping his tail and we were just photographing him doing that … we had the [boat] engines off."

Mr Parry said Migaloo disappeared for two minutes before coming up next to his boat.

"He had another whale with him and they were just really curious of our boat and just laid there for a minute, which is when I captured the photo, I just put the pole under the boat and snapped the photo," he said.

Mr Parry has been following his passion for nature photography over the past decade. ( Supplied: Craig Parry )

"I couldn't believe the exposure was correct. I've never shot anything white underwater before.

"He's a very bright subject so to be able to get the exposure spot on was a feat in itself. I was over the moon.

"That was my first encounter with Migaloo and it's a pretty special one."

He said the photo took pride of place in his gallery in Byron Bay.

"It's blown up two metres wide," he said.

"I feel like when people look at that it connect them to nature that little bit more."

Mr Parry, who has been taking photos from a young age, got into professional photography in his mid-20s.

"At that stage I just needed to earn a dollar so I was doing weddings and the occasional professional shoot with surfers," he said.

"In my spare time I'd jump in a boat with my dad and we'd go out and photograph the dolphins and whales.

"Over time that became my big passion."

Mr Parry's award-winning photograph earned him $1,000 at the awards.

The photo will also be displayed in exhibitions in Moscow and in St. Petersburg.