“We almost didn’t believe what we saw.”
In the open ocean waters of Hammerfest, Norway, lives an incredibly considerate beluga whale. When the whale first surfaced, it was fitted with a harness of some sort. Little is known about the whale, but Norway officials believe that the whale was actually being trained by the Russian Navy as a spy whale. Yes, spy whales are actually a thing. However, this one must have gone rogue.
The harness was removed from the whale, but the whale still hang out in the area in which it was first discovered.
One day, while out and about in Hammerfest, Ina Mansika and her friends decided to head down to the waterfront to see if they could spot the alleged former spy. It was then that something pretty amazing happened.
Not only was the beluga whale there to greet them — he came to the rescue when Mansika had a mishap.
“We laid down on the dock to look at it and hopefully get the chance to pat it,” Mansika told The Dodo. “I had forgotten to close my jacket pocket and my phone fell in the ocean. We assumed it would be gone forever, until the whale dove back down and came back a few moments later with my phone in its mouth!”
Here’s that awesome moment on video:
Mansika and those around her were completely mind blown.
“Everyone was so surprised. We almost didn’t believe what we saw,” she said. “I was super happy and thankful that I got my phone back.“
As for the final fate of the cell phone…well…it has severe water damage and will likely never work again! But who else can say that they dropped their phone into the ocean and that a beluga whale brought it back up to the surface for you? That experience is totally worth the cost of a new phone!
It’s unclear if the beluga whale is too accustomed to humans to thrive in the wild on his own, given his apparent training, but officials say they are keeping his best interests at heart. According to the Washington Post, a plan is being considered that would have him relocated to a sanctuary in Iceland.
