Lost Narwhal Didn’t Have Family Until Beluga Whales Accepted Him as Their Own
Humans are distinct from animals in our complexity in emotions, our intelligence that surpasses instincts and simply the way our bodies work.
But one thing remains consistent between humans and animals — we need love and interaction in order to survive and thrive.
So just as young teenagers worry about where they will fit in and be accepted at school, so do animals.
For instance, consider 4-month-old Bonnie the cow.
When Bonnie was about to be herded with her fellow cows into a truck for slaughter, Bonnie’s instincts told her to escape. So she did.
Bonnie wandered in the woods of Holland, New York, for months. Witnesses spotted her among deer.
Her need to survive and her desire to be loved and accepted brought her into herds of deer, where she was accepted as one of their own. She even assimilated into their mannerisms, darting around the woods discreetly away from humans just like deer would.
So when a young narwhal was spotted swimming alongside a pod of beluga whales in the St. Lawrence River, it was mesmerizing but not at all surprising.
According to CBC News, the Group for Education and Research on Marine Mammals, a nonprofit group dedicated to whale research, conservation and education, looked through their drone footage to find a pod of 10 beluga whales.
As they observed the narwhal’s interactions with the whales, there was no evident difference between the beluga whales’ interactions within themselves, suggesting the belugas fully accepted the narwhal.
The young narwhal was even spotted blowing bubbles occasionally, just as the beluga whales do!
Robert Michaud, GREMM’s president and scientific director, noted that whales often wander outside of their known habitats.
According to Michaud, some whales even end up trying to befriend boats or humans.
“That little narwhal that made a similar trip was very lucky,” Michaud said.
“Because he found almost normal buddies.”
We are so happy this young narwhal found some friends to do life with!
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