Group Of Whale Watchers “Held Hostage” By Too-Friendly Humpback Whale

Cassie Murray, a marine biologist, has over 10 years of experience when it comes to whale watching. Still, a recent excursion off the coast of Australia leaves her in awe like everyone else. While out on the water, a beautiful humpback whale decides to investigate their boat. As a result, the whale watchers onboard find themselves in a hostage situation — but the experience isn’t like you’d imagine.

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With this curious animal so close to the boat, Cassie has to turn off all the power. This is the only way to make sure the adorable creature doesn’t get hurt. As a result, however, the folks onboard are not able to go anywhere until the whale leaves. So, what do you do when a whale holds you hostage? If you are these folks, you simply enjoy your time with the whale, taking lots of pictures and videos, of course! See for yourself in the video below.

“The [whale] behavior we experienced, it’s called a mugging because, essentially, the boats are being held hostage by the whales, we can’t move,” Cassie says. “You’re being held hostage by the whale. But it’s like, the best kind of hostage situation possible.”

You might think this whale would grow bored pretty quickly. On the contrary, this little guy stuck around for nearly an hour — not that anyone minded too much. In fact, Cassie says there were “constant screams of excitement” from the folks on board.

“[The whale] just kind of hung around and circled the boat and spy-hopped, which is when they lift their head up out of the water to take a look around,” Cassie says. “It was very, very special. It was just watching us watch it, basically.”

You can find the source of this story’s featured image here!