Whale Mom Spotted With The Rarest Thing...

They were named "right whales" because they were once considered the right whales to hunt.

But whaling decimated the healthy worldwide population of the southern right whale down from 60,000 to just a few thousand worldwide, until they became a protected species in 1935.

Now, they're staging a slow comeback, and once-rare sightings of southern right whales are becoming more and more common. But a recent sighting just off the coast of west Australia was a rarity indeed.

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Shutterstock

Drone footage captured by Department of Parks and Wildlife in Australia's Fitzgerald River National Park shows a birds-eye view of a migrating group of southern right whales.

Among their dark forms casting shadows as they move across the clear water was a strange white spot.

YouTube/Parks and Wildlife WA

Turns out, the spot, swimming along with the mother whale, was a rare albino calf, thought to be only one of only six albinos in the 3,000 right whales who live in the whole area.

YouTube/Parks and Wildlife WA

The latest sighting of this unusual-looking calf is a bright spot of hope for the whole species - even though, as he grows, he'll likely change to a lighter shade of grey, according to Doug Coughran, senior wildlife officer with the Department of Parks and Wildlife.

"When you look at big populations of different species, this is one that is really down there, clawing its way back from extinction," Coughran told The Daily Mail.

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