Whale Takes Tourists for Ride Near Mexico By Lifting Boat on Its Back and Swimming Away

A passenger aboard the boat said the playful whale "gently" lifted the boat and swam with the vessel on their back "twice" before swimming away

A gray whale took a group of tourists on the boat ride of their lives, as seen in a video shared online by one of the passengers.

Lory Barra, the woman purportedly behind the camera in the clip shared last Tuesday with ViralHog, said she and other tourists on a boat trip played with the gray whale "for over 2 hours" in a lagoon near Guerrero Negro, Mexico. Based on the video above, the whale was not shy about playing back.

In the clip from the whale encounter, Barra and other tourists experience a unique and thrilling moment when the whale lifts the tourists' boat on its back and starts swimming, taking the humans on a brief, exciting journey.

"Hi babes!" Barra says while panning the camera down the whale's body. Suddenly, she realizes the boat is in motion.

"She's pushing us on this side — oh, she's moving us!" Barra exclaims in the video as the whale is seen swimming forward. "She's totally moving us! Oh my gosh! She's totally moving us! Look at this!"

In the caption of her clip, Barra noted that the whale "gently" lifted and moved the boat "twice."

In the background of the clip, someone jokes to the whale, "Do you want to take us back up to Alaska?"

Barra and her fellow tourists were blown away by the unique experience. "Never have I ever had that happen!" she says while filming. A short time later, the whale whisked them away again.

"She's moving us again!" Barra exclaims in the video as she sticks her hand in the water. "Look at this! She's taking us for a ride! … She's going fast, too! Oh my gosh! I can't believe this!"

Describing the experience in the caption, Barra said the whale "was having so much fun coming to us all for pets and kisses" and "went fast enough to make a wake through my fingers."

"I've been there many times, and this never happens!" she added.

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Eastern North Pacific gray whales migrate to the northern portion of the U.S. West Coast between mid-February and May, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The whales spend the summer off of the coasts of states such as Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and northern California, as well as British Columbia in Canada, before migrating south for the winter.

Gray whale calves are typically born between January and mid-February in the shallow lagoons and bays off of the Mexican coast or during migration, per the agency's website.