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Source: USA Today
There are close encounters. And there are really close encounters. And then there are the ones where the animal swims so close, it headbutts your camera. That was what happened recently when scientist Dr. Regina Eisert was studying orca behavior in Antarctica’s Ross Sea region marine protected area. Eisert was trying to understand where the mammals live and what their preferred foods are, and as it approached the researcher’s camera, the juvenile whale offered an answer. “Killer footage confirms toothfish on the menu,” Eisert wrote on Instagram. “And the #whales are happy to share!”
The scientist from New Zealand’s University of Canterbury wasn’t diving, but standing on the edge of the sea ice with her “whalfie”—or whale selfie—stick. “I put my whalfie stick in the water as soon as I saw it come close and waited to see what would happen,” Eisert said. “It made a beeline for [me], bumped the camera with its nose, opened its mouth and showed me a piece toothfish inside, as though it was trying to get me to take it. It was really special. The only way I can describe it is like when a cat offers you a mouse.”
Check out the amazing footage below.
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