A beluga whale lunged at two divers in a terrifying underwater attack at an aquarium in China, with the tense encounter caught on camera as onlookers screamed in horror
A terrifying underwater encounter between a beluga whale and two divers has been caught on camera
In viral footage, the whale can be seen suddenly lunging at a female aquarium worker inside the tank on Thursday, August 14 at Chengdu Haichang Polar Ocean Park in Sichuan, China.
The animal attempted to bite her legs as she tried to swim away. Moments later, the same whale turned its attention to a male diver, who appeared to be holding a camera. Elsewhere, an octopus ‘climbed out of aquarium tank’ and ‘tried to eat a boy, 6,’ in front of his mum.
The clip, shared by Viral Press, shows the beluga biting onto the male diver’s flippers and holding on briefly before releasing. The whale then attempted a second bite before ultimately swimming off. Fortunately, both divers escaped the encounter unharmed.
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Aquarium visitors watching from outside the tank reacted with alarm, their screams and shouts captured in the background as they watched the situation unfold.
In April, another alarming interaction occurred during an underwater photo shoot with two beluga whales at the Stone Forest Ice and Snow World in Yunnan, China.
During the session, one of the whales grabbed a woman’s head in its mouth and removed her wig. She was able to swim to the surface without injury, according to Viral Press.
Beluga whales are generally known as social and highly intelligent animals, often displaying curiosity toward humans, according to the Natural History Museum (NHM).
However, studies, including one published on ResearchGate, have noted that belugas in captivity may exhibit aggressive behaviour, especially when they feel threatened or provoked.
Despite these incidents, beluga whales are currently listed as a species of “Least Concern” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
It comes as a video claiming to show a fatal attack by an orca recently went viral. However, it has been revealed that it is in the product of AI. In fact, there is no credible source confirming a trainer named Jessica Radcliffe was ever attacked – or that she even exists.
The clip spread rapidly on TikTok and other social media outlets. It showed the ‘fake’ whale trainer being ‘killed’ by an orca in front of a live audience during a whale show at Pacific Blue Marine Park, but it didn’t really happen. The entire ordeal was cooked up by artificial intelligence, with no news reports or official records showing Radcliffe ever existed.
According to the International Business Times, the hoax video was created using “fake voiceovers” and “unrelated footage”, while “borrowing elements from real incidents to appear believable”.
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