A beluga whale deliberately soaked me and then laughed about it
UPDATE: I answer questions about this video here:
Taken on 8/26/2019 at the Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, CT.
I believe this particular beluga whale was Juno, a rescue that was raised in captivity and would be unfit to release into the wild. I’m pretty sure he was trained to react after splashing people, but this is still adorable.
I was sitting next to an elderly woman in a wheelchair trying to get a photo of the belugas as they swam by, when Juno swam up and seemed fascinated by us. He rose to the top and splashed me. I laughed and gave a playful pretend tap to let Juno know I was reacting and that they got me good (I did not actually hit the tank, even if it looks like it in the video). And then he started laughing back and waving his fins. It looked exactly like he had planned and executed a funny prank - and knew it!
My daughter Kayla Muchnick happened to be filming the beluga behind me and caught this hilarious candid moment by c