THE Far North's most famous aquatic holidaymaker is speeding along the humpback highway to get to the Great Barrier Reef.

Migaloo, the world’s only known all-white humpback whale, was spotted swimming off the northern coast of Fraser Island on Sunday.

He has joined a record number of humpbacks making their annual migration to the warm Reef water from Antarctica.

Oskar Peterson, founder of the Gold Coast-based White Whale Research Centre, estimated it could take Migaloo between two or three weeks to reach Cairns.

"Over the last couple of years, it hasn’t taken him long to get to Cairns and beyond," Mr Peterson said.

Migaloo, an Aboriginal word for "white fella", was spotted off Port Douglas in mid-July last year.

Mr Peterson believed the whale’s early appearance in Queensland waters may be a result of flooding on the
mid-north coast of NSW. "He’s probably avoided all of the coastal areas of New South Wales because of the rain," he said.

"He doesn’t like freshwater run-off, like most whales don’t."

There are estimates at least 13,500 whales will head north this year, with the first humpbacks of the season seen by dive boats off Cairns late last month.

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