Incredible footage has emerged of a beluga whale 'playing rugby' with a group of South African rugby fans on a boat near the Arctic Pole. Photo / Facebook / Alon Kowen
Incredible footage has emerged of a beluga whale 'playing rugby' with a group of South African rugby fans on a boat near the Arctic Pole. Photo / Facebook / Alon Kowen
Incredible footage has emerged of a beluga whale "playing rugby" with a group of South African rugby fans on a boat near the Arctic Pole.
The whale is seen playing with an official 2019 Rugby World Cup ball in the ocean, pushing it along before securing possession of the ball and returning it to the men on the boat.
Crew members can be seen throwing the ball back into the water for the whale to play fetch.
The video was taken by crew members from the Gemini Craft, which is currently at sea in the Arctic Pole.
The man throwing the ball for the beluga is wearing a tracksuit with the logo of the Dinah Explorer, a marine research vessel which is currently in Norwegian waters.
Alan Ko wen, who uploaded the video, captioned it: "Beluga Whale celebrating the Springboks victory".
One of the men is seen plucking the ball from the beluga whale's mouth. Photo / Facebook / Alon Kowen
The whale is seen fetching the ball in its mouth and returning it to the men on the boat. Photo / Facebook / Alon Kowen
Incredible footage has emerged of a beluga whale 'playing rugby' with a group of South African rugby fans on a boat near the Arctic Pole. Photo / Facebook / Alon Kowen
The boat was previously spotted near the Norwegian town of Hammer fest.
This is the port which drew media attention earlier this year after a highly trained beluga whale, described as a Russian spy whale, was spotted with harnesses around its body.
Since the removal of the harness, the beluga whale has recently been spotted taking food from people and performing tricks for passing boats.
It is not known if the beluga in the rugby video is the same whale linked to Russia.
The footage has wowed viewers on social media, with a number commenting in on the whale's rugby skills.
"The TMO clearly missed a few knock ons though," one person wrote.
Another said: "I hear the beluga is a big Wales supporter."
One took a shot at New Zealand television match official Ben Skeen, writing: "Someone needs to edit this with Ben Skeen saying 'there's no clear and obvious forward pass' dubbed over it."
Others were amazed at the whale's skill, complimenting its ball control and rugby nous.
"Maybe the All Blacks could sign this fella up. Would look good in the front row. Handling skills not bad. Good at following direction from the coaches," one wrote.
Another added: "Better than England in the final."
