One of these whales is not like the others ... but the belugas don't mind! (GREMM)
Sometimes in life, you can lose your way.
That can be a metaphor. Like say, when you're making a pizza from scratch and someone accidentally knocks cinnamon and brown sugar into the dough and before you know it, you're eating a giant cinnamon bun for dinner!
Other times though, you physically lose your way. Imagine if you will, that you're a young narwhal. One minute you're a calf searching for food in the Arctic with your nar-pals, and next you're a thousand miles away from home and thinking, "This place doesn't look familiar ... Erik? Wilbur? You guys there?"
This isn't a dream!
Narwhals normally don't go much further south than the Arctic waters around Baffin Island. (Getty Embed)
Now imagine that this isn't just some fantasy ... it's REAL LIFE. Because it is! (Except for the fact that we can't confirm the existence of a pair of narwhals named Erik and Wilbur.) For the past three years, a juvenile male narwhal has been living in the St. Lawrence River, which is about 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) away from its usual habitat.
No one really knows why this guy traveled so far from home. But this naval immigrant story has taken a heartwarming turn. He's been adopted!
... by BELUGAS!
(We'll just pause for a moment to allow the cuteness to set in.)
Hang with the gang
Belugas are very social whales. This tendency might have made it easier for them to accept a narwhal into their group. (Getty Embed)
According to researchers at GREMM (Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals), this narwhal has been seen in this part of the world since 2016. And now that it has been welcomed into a pod of belugas, it looks as though it has gone from 'losing its way' to 'here to stay'.
"It behaves like it was one of the boys," GREMM president Robert Michaud told the CBC recently.
Maybe it doesn't hurt that, aside from its colouring and metre-long tusk, the narwhal is a very similar size and shape to the belugas. Both animals are pretty social, too, so accepting the narwhal could feel like second nature to the belugas.
Either way, any moment of inter-species friendship is something we're eager to celebrate. One thing we're really curious about? Can this narwhal learn the beluga's language in the same way that this beluga has learned the clicks and squeaks of its adopted dolphin pod? Now that would be awesome!
Watch the new friends frolic below.
i like beluga. the beluga is white. I like to see the whale. Narwhals are real. they r whale. Whale Are swimming.
Thanks Alex! Beautiful!