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 below the boat, which is carried carefully on its back.
“Oh my God, he kidnapped us! He’s asking us to go for a walk with him,” shouted one of the crew, Lory Barra from California, USA, with joy in the video.
“He had so much fun with us. Twice he lifted us up a bit and carried us on his back. I have done similar cruises several times and this has never happened,” Barra told the Daily Mail.
The gray whale is a medium-sized cetacean from the teleost suborder, reaching 12 to 15 meters in length and weighing up to 40 tonnes.
“It was twice the size of our ship and estimated to weigh about 30 tons,” Barra said of the whale, which spent two hours on board.
Gray fin whales are known for their curiosity and friendly nature. Last month, one cetacean in Mexico got so close to a boat 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 organized) coastal community of Baja California Sur, whales seek out and enjoy their interactions immensely,” Sea Kayak Adventures, one of the companies that organizes whale watching tours on site, says on its website.
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