A gigantic gray whale swam up to a whale watchers’ boat, allowing them to touch and stroke her in an incident hailed as one of the greatest interactions between humans and whales.
It took place at San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja California peninsula, Mexico, during a whale watch trip when a large-sized whale decided to say ‘Hi’ to the watchers in her own manner.
Watch this beautiful encounter below.
[rumble video_id=v5v6hj domain_id=u7nb2]
Video credit: Rumble
Erik Jones from San Luis Obispo, California, instantly used his drone to film the sweet moments of the fish gliding through gorgeous turquoise waters to reach their panga boat.
Just after the attention-seeking whale came near to the boat along with her calf, she tried to look up by lifting her nose like if she was spy-hopping.
Instead of being afraid, the adventurous people on the boat tried to touch and pat her.
To encourage the whale to come nearer, a woman rushed her fingers through the blue waters – and that actually worked. The whale came closer and allowed the lady to gently stroke her.
It seemed like the whale loved how the people on the boat treated her. After a few moments, the massive mammal made the situation even more interesting by spraying water on their faces.
The little calf did somersaults in the running water as its mother rolled on her back to entertain the startled spectators.
Explaining the generic whale behaviors, 39-year-old Jones said: “Most of the time, the mothers push their young calves up to the boat to get touched by humans.”
He added that many times mother whale and her calves just ‘compete with each other to get pet, touched, and kissed’ by the humans.
In view of this latest interaction, the adventurer described how the whale and her calf were trying to ‘just come up to the boat over and over again!’
He said: “It was amazing to see this friendly and competitive interaction with these wild animals and humans!
“They are so enthused to be around people! Pretty wild since whaling occurred in this bay around 50 years ago!”
The amazed whale watchers said they were ‘ecstatic the entire time’ and defined their unforgettable encounter as ‘epic.’
“It was fun to review the footage and remember how we felt that day! So heartwarming to see these wild animals that have such a challenging time in life outside of this safe ‘nursery’ bay,” Jones said.
The whales at San Ignacio Lagoon are friendlier than other whales.
Their unusual friendly behavior towards humans has become their identity and that’s what drives people to come to the San Ignacio Lagoon.
Commenting on the incident, Chris Breen, the leader of the Wildlife Worldwide, wrote on his website: “So many whales around the boat wanting to play with you that you don’t know where to turn is in a different league altogether.”
He added that the instance was ‘probably the greatest whale watching spectacle on Earth.’
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