Recreational boaters have noticed beluga whales approaching them, and individuals have been observed touching and socializing with them. Both the whales and the people who are petting the animal are at risk from this type of conduct. It makes only sense that someone may find a beluga’s charm hard to refuse. The most reasonable, sane, and noble course of action is to refuse to interact with belugas for the sake of the animals and the protection of humans. The person recording the video had this to say about their experience:  “There are a lot of people on the Volna beach, on this day a large Beluga whale is very close to us and people could play with it, the children are especially happy. As far as we know, it previously lived in the reserve and she is not familiar with the wild nature, therefore it can swim so close to people and is not afraid of them.” It’s quite a shocking sight to see. Normally, wild animals tend to steer clear of humans and are often more scared of us than we are of them. The video of the interaction has over 200,000 likes and counting!  It’s safe to say witnessing an interaction like this is truly jaw-dropping. One of the video viewers’ comments informs of us where the whale came from, “This is Vladivostok and it’s very close to Japan. This is one of the several Belugas that were held captive in the so-called whale prison very close to where it was filmed. After the big scandal, whales were released into the wild but returned the next year because they got used to getting fed and were not afraid of people.” The prison, called Russia’s whale jail, was built in a bay close to the coastal city of Nakhodka. However, the last of the 97 whales have been released seven months after the Russian government made a pledge to do so.

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