Participants on a boat tour to Magdalena Bay in Mexico experienced a rare event when they encountered gray whales at very close range.
Alex Banky, 36, from Rhode, who took part in the boat tour, captured the moment of the encounter with a gray whale weighing up to 45 tons.
The gray whale approached the boat without hesitation.
Local residents on Rhode Island mentioned that encountering a whale during a sea trip is an incredible experience. Not everyone gets the chance to meet them throughout many years of sailing.
The recorded video shows the astonishing moment when a gray whale leaped out of the water, coming close to the boat full of tourists and playfully spouting water at them. These gentle gray whales enjoy being petted like household pets.
The viral video has garnered nearly 250,000 views. Alex Banky stated: “It was an amazing experience. I have never encountered a whale at such close range. A once-in-a-lifetime moment. I never imagined I would touch or even kiss a whale. The whale smelled of the ocean, and it was soft and smooth to the touch.”
The whale appeared close enough for tourists to touch its massive chin.
Gray whales do not have teeth. They crush their food using a unique baleen structure in their mouths. They can consume up to 1,200 kg of food in a single day.
Gray whales spend most of their lives foraging in shallow waters. They undertake an annual round-trip migration of 19,312 km.
Typically, during the summer, around late May to early June, gray whales swim offshore along the coast of Russia to feed.
In the fall, they head towards southern China before returning to the western coasts of the United States and Mexico to breed.
Gray whales are widely distributed throughout the northeastern Pacific Ocean. In 2019, an extremely rare albino individual was discovered. This marked only the third sighting of an albino whale in Magdalena Bay. The unusual white color of the animal is believed to be due to a genetic mutation that prevents the production of pigment-causing proteins.
