Trending
Clever beluga whale plays fetch with group of sailors
This beluga came to play fetch with these sailors. This is probably the most wholesome video that people have seen this month.
Johndel Callora
04.21.21

We can barely interact with aquatic animals since we’re like a world apart from them. However, once we get our chance to, we’ll come to realize that animals on land and water have more similarities than differences.

If on land we have Golden Retrievers, in the ocean we have Belugas.

Unsplash/Benjamin Ilchman
Source:
Unsplash/Benjamin Ilchman

Belugas are a species of whale that’s closely related to narwhals. They are often called white whales because of their beautiful white skin, and sometimes melon-head whales.

An article from Science focus mentions the words of Dr. Greg O’Corry-Crowe from his study about Beluga kinships, stating:

“Unlike killer and pilot whales, and like some human societies, beluga whales don’t solely or even primarily interact and associate with close kin.”

That means, they interact just as well with other animals, including humans. They’re just as sociable and playful as their land counterpart, Golden Retrievers.

The perfect example would be this wholesome video of a Beluga.

Twitter Screenshot
Source:
Twitter Screenshot

These lucky people were sailing near the north pole when they were greeted by a pod of friendly belugas. The curious belugas were not afraid to move closer to the ship and even began interacting with the sailors on board.

A surprising thing happened when someone brought out a rugby ball.

Twitter Screenshot
Source:
Twitter Screenshot

One of the sailors brought his rugby ball out in the open and threw it on the ocean. The beluga near the boat immediately swam towards the ball and fetched it with its mouth.

The whale could have swum away with the interesting toy, but the beluga swam back to the boat instead to deliver the rugby ball back to the man.

Twitter Screenshot
Source:
Twitter Screenshot

At one point, the whale even lost its grip on the ball and it almost floated away. However, he was quick enough to catch up to the ball then dove underwater with it until he reached the boat.

This wholesome clip quickly went viral on the internet.

Twitter Screenshot
Source:
Twitter Screenshot

Since the clip propagated rapidly on social media sites like Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter, there is no clear trace of whom the video originally belonged to.

Twitter Screenshot
Source:
Twitter Screenshot

Rebecca Herbert, an environmental journalist, also uploaded the same clip which yielded over 1.4 million views and almost ten thousand retweets on Twitter. It’s probably the best clip the internet has recently seen this month.

Although, someone confirmed that this beluga might be a Russian spy whale.

Russia is known for training spy whales in its military. One of them is the famous Hvaldimir, a beluga that was recently featured in international news after it was freed from its harness in 2019.

To this date, Hvaldimir could be seen around Norwegian waters, and sometimes interact with humans he comes across. It was officially confirmed by the non-profit Norwegian Orca Survey who is closely monitoring Hvaldimir’s actions.

Regardless of whether he is the real Hvaldimir or not, that doesn’t change the fact that belugas are friendly mammals.

Unsplash/Yuan Yue
Source:
Unsplash/Yuan Yue

Most whales are safe, except for the infamous whale-killer, orcas. They would never harm humans except when they are threatened and/or harmed. Belugas are a great example of that, especially with their very outgoing and smart personalities.

Sadly, these whales are hunted in the past causing a huge loss in their population. On the bright side, there are plenty of Beluga-saving organizations that keep their species alive.

Unsplash/Mendar Bouchali
Source:
Unsplash/Mendar Bouchali

Hopefully, there comes a day when we could freely play with the belugas like this in the video. Surely, a lot of us would be greatly happy to see one.

Check out the incredible game of fetch below!

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Article Sources:
To learn more read our Editorial Standards.
Advertisement