The incident occurred last Tuesday in the waters of the Pacific Ocean in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. The footage shows the whale swimming directly under the boat, which it carries carefully on its back.
“Oh my God, he kidnapped us! He’s taking us for a walk with him,” one of the crew, Lory Barra from California, USA, shouts excitedly in the video.
“He had so much fun with us. Twice he picked us up a little bit and carried us on his back. I’ve been on a few similar cruises and this has never happened,” Barra told the Daily Mail.
The gray whale is a medium-sized cetacean of the teleost suborder, reaching a length of 12 to 15 meters and weighing up to 40 tons.
“It was twice the size of our boat and was estimated to weigh around 30 tonnes,” Barra said of the whale, who spent two hours on the boat.
The gray fin whale is known for its curious and friendly nature. Last month, one of Mexico’s cetaceans came so close to the ship that tourists could touch and even smell it.
“When interacting with whales, it is very important to respect them in their natural habitat. In many places around the world, boats can stress whales. However, in the friendly (and highly regulated) coastal community of Baja California Sur, whales seek out and enjoy their interactions,” Sea Kayak Adventures, one of the companies that organizes whale watching tours on its website, said on its website.
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