News

Beluga whales might just be the coolest marine mammals. But one especially chill pod of belugas has adopted a young narwhal into their ranks.

One special grey-spotted narwhal has been documented living, playing, and learning from a pod of beluga whales in Canada’s St. Lawrence River. First observed in 2016, the narwhal “seems to be at home with the St. Lawrence belugas” after more than two years, according to the Canadian nonprofit Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals (GREMM).

“It’s a like a big social ball of young juveniles that are playing some social, sexual games,” GREMM president Robert Michaud told CBC. The narwhal “behaves like one of the boys,” he added.

What’s more amazing is that the young narwhal appears to be learning socialized behaviors from the belugas—including bubble blowing and communication. Check out the impressive drone footage of this unique pod, below. 

Oh, and narwhals are pretty awesome too.