Friendly whale nudges up to fishing boat for men to remove bags in his mouth

http://www.examiner.com/article/friendly-whale-nudges-up-to-fishing-boat-for-men-to-remove-bags-his-mouth?cid=sm-facebook-081315-12.00pm-FriendlyWhale

Cheryl Hanna
Aug. 13, 2015

Good Samaritans were caught off guard in Middle Harbour, north of Sydney when a friendly whale swam up to their boat and seemed to be nudging the fishermen to help him get plastic bags and fishing lines out of his mouth on Tuesday afternoon, reports the ManlyDaily.

Kindhearted Michael Riggio,17, took photos with his phone while his friend, Ivan Iskenderian, leaned over the boat to help the whale. The men thought the entire experience was "surreal" and couldn't believe it was really happening. Another fisherman, Ron Kovacs who was in another boat opposite the young fisherman, spotted the whale when he made his first appearance. "He just popped his head up so you could reach out and remove the garbage. He tried on my boat but we are a bit higher," stated Mr. Kovacs. "I made one grab for the bag but missed. He was very inquisitive and more interested in us.You could see that big eye coming out watching us. They are not dumb for sure," Kovacs wrote in his account of the once in a lifetime experience.

As Mr. Kovac tried to reach out and help the whale he missed. but did notice the animal had a big scar on his back, and the fishing line and two plastic bags had been stuck on his head. He was stunned and in awe, as the whale presented his head as the two young fishermen removed the bags. And as the whale is later seen swimming away, the grateful giant presented his fin to the men as if thanking them for their help.