A Friendly Gray Whale Swims Up to a Boat And Lets the Passengers Pet Him

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Typically, when we think of friendly animals, we would say dogs, cats, horses, and bunny rabbits, to list a few. However, there are estimated to be about 8.7 million species that can be found worldwide, according to the National Library of Medicine. So many of these species can be very friendly and loving animals if we only give them a chance. We must remember that small, cute, or furry aren’t the only qualifications for a friendly animal. Don’t miss the most unusual friendly animal in the video above!

Gray Whale Spotted in Baja California

The short YouTube video clip seen at the top of this blog post takes us to Baja, California, in Mexico. A group of tourists spotted a gray whale that came up to their boat. The Baja Wild Adventures YouTube page shared this video, and it has received more than one million likes. This channel shares breathtaking footage of animals such as baby turtles, dolphins, and fish. 

Tourists Pet Massive Gray Whale 

As the video above starts out, we see this tour boat has stopped because a massive gray whale has approached them. Now, when we first see this gray whale, it’s nothing but adorable smiles and happy exclamations from the tourists. But, before that happened, could you imagine this enormous whale coming at you and not knowing what they might do? 

Well, it seems this friendly animal just wanted to show off his brightly polished teeth. The tourists were amazed and got a once-in-a-lifetime experience of being able to pet this animal. 

How Large are Gray Whales?

From the view of this gray whale’s head alone, we know these whales must be massive. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “These large whales can grow to about 49 feet long and weigh approximately 90,000 pounds.” 

To put this into perspective, the tallest land animal alive is the giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis). Which can reach a height of 20 feet. So, this gray whale would be almost three times that size in length! 

Do Gray Whales Have Teeth?

While these tourists described this animal as coming up to show off its teeth, we know that was only metaphorical. That’s because gray whales don’t have any teeth! We know you’re intrigued, so keep on reading. “Gray whales are baleen whales, so (they) don’t have teeth,” Discover Wildlife tells us. 

These whales have what’s called baleen plates or just baleen. These are made from keratin, which is the stuff humans’ nails and hair are made out of! They can have up to 180 plates in their mouth. And as we can see from the video above, this gray whale sure did have a lot he wanted to show off!