The dead white whale found off Queensland's Palm Island is not the famous albino humpback Migaloo, a marine expert says.

Fishermen discovered a white whale carcass off Palm Island, near Townsville, earlier this week which triggered fears that Migaloo had met his end.

But Whale Research Centre founder Oskar Peterson believes the whale corpse isn't Migaloo.

After reviewing the photos and video footage of the dead animal, Peterson says the famed white whale still lives.

"There are black spots on the whale and Migaloo is 100 per cent white," Peterson told AAP on Wednesday.

Peterson said that since whales went belly up when they died, and they were white underneath the fishermen may have confused the dead whale to the albino Migaloo. Identifying the dead whale would be an easy. A photo of the tail or a simple DNA test would confirm the identity of the whale.

"All whales have a different tail, it's like their finger print," Peterson said.

"In 2004 we took DNA so if we can do a test on its DNA we would know straight away."

The white whale Migaloo first made his appearance near Byron Bay in 1991. Aboriginal elders from the Hervey Bay area gave him his name, which means white fella. Migaloo has since been the star of the annual whale migration along Australia's east coast.