Beluga Whale saves drowning Diver
A beluga whale saved a drowning diver by hoisting her to the surface, carrying her leg in its mouth.
Terrified Yang Yun thought she was going to die when her legs were paralysed by crippling cramps in arctic temperatures.
She had been taking part in a free diving contest WITHOUT any breathing equipment.
Competitors had to sink to the bottom of an aquarium’s 20ft arctic pool and stay there for as long as possible amid the beluga whales at..north east China.
But when Yun, 26, tried to head to the surface she struggled to move her legs.
Lucky Yun said: “I began to choke and sank even lower and I thought that was it for me - I was dead. Until I felt this incredible force under me driving me to the surface.”
Beluga whale Mila had spotted her difficulties and using her sensitive dolphin-like nose guided Yun safely to the surface.
Beluga whales. Woohoo.
Beluga actually means “white one” in Russian. Ohhh, how un-PC of them. Ha.
Belugas are toothed whales and have 34 teeth. But their teeth are not designed for chewing just for grabbing and tearing at their prey. They actually swallow their prey whole. Yum. 
Belugas happen to be extremely social animals and congregate in what’s known as “pods” . They hang out in social groups of 2-25 whales, with both males and females. Sounds kinda like us eh?
How the Chinese organized a competition in which divers had to sink to the bottom of a freezing, arctic pool and stay down for as long as they can without breathing equipment…Well, that’s a whole other story.
But hey… at least we can comfort ourselves that compassion and empathy is still an ancient mammalian trait that, even though not evidenced too often by our fellow humans…. is occasionally shown by other animal species.
Go Mila!
July 30th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
AW! What an awesome story! Thanks for posting this. Dolphins and Whales are awesome!
July 30th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
I still miss Flipper and of course FREE WILLY..
Thanks Angel for the feel good story, what a change from whats going on…outside the water!!!!
July 30th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
I don’t suppose “Buy that whale some plankton” would be a good marketing message for any underwarter whale bars.
Yeah…I didn’t think so either.
July 30th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Love dolphins and whales also. Such wonderful and intelligent creatures.
At least we know that Mila doesn’t work for the Chinese government. If she did, she would’ve let that poor girl drown for the sake of population control.
July 30th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Thank goodness it wasn’t one of those lazy black whales because one of those would have invited that diver to a Beer fest at the white coral reef.
July 30th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
My above comment was not intended to insult whales or dolphins in any way. I live an hour drive from seaworld and I have sen firsthand how intelligent they are. My love of wildlife is not limited to wild species of cats that I keep around the house here. Having now 2 wild animals (smaller wild cats) as pets and spending time around other wild animals as I have done has taught me that they are so much smarter than people think.
July 30th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Check out Obama healthcare murder plan on my blog. No text, just link, pass it around to all your friends. People need to know what this plan really is before we become Nazis.
July 30th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Amazing story and a nice break from the usual depressing socialist march stuff that we have been suffering through lately……
July 31st, 2009 at 7:48 am
I hear that these beautiful creatures are quite intelligent — as well as being compassionate.
July 31st, 2009 at 12:42 pm
If Beluga means “white one,” then why do they call caviar beluga when it is anything but white. It’s like women wearing evening gowns to night clubs–shouldn’t they wear night gowns?
These are the deep, troubling questions of our time, Angel.
Nice digs. Thanks for stopping by earlier.
July 31st, 2009 at 12:48 pm
What a very good story. So loving this whale! Specially if you compare it with some humans…
July 31st, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Yes women wear nightgowns to nighclubs now. If they didn’t pay $2 Grand for it they don’t get let in too. Here in S.Florida, I am in nightclub “heaven” or “hell.” About 6 years ago the clubs started doing the “velvet rope” crap when all the big name hollywood stars figured out S.Florida had such a huge nightclub scene. It changed practically overnight from average people and everybody getting in for 5-10$ to 30$+ tipping the bouncer at the door if you are with a movie star or pro athlete. My clubbing days are long over anyways but that velvet rope crap reminds me too much of Hollywood elitism at it’s worst and believe me I HATE Hollywood and the sewage it puts out. I have been boycotting ABC, NBC and C(the)BS excluding sports for several years now.
July 31st, 2009 at 6:03 pm
MoreWhat Matters: Today’s Blog List…
from Maggie’s Notebook……. you don’t want to miss this one.
Incisive Article by Thomas Sowell
from Conservative Thoughts….. more surprises from healthcare reform proposals
HR 3200 Not for English Speaking Americans pg 400
…
July 31st, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Awww, that is the sweetest story, and the cute whale at the end, he’s smiling at us! These wonderful creatures are WAY more loving and compassionate than the liberals who are ruining our way of life.
August 2nd, 2009 at 5:43 am
Wow, just wow, thanks for sharing that Angel.
August 2nd, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Thanks for the suggestion today, Angel. I went ahead and added the video from Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watchin’ Me” to the bottom of my post. Great call.