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---
title: Meanwhile Playful Beluga is Looks Ready to Win the World Cup
description: Look out, New Zealand, this beluga looks ready to win the Rugby World Cup.
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author: Melissa Locker
article:opinion: false
article:content_tier: free
article:published_time: 2019-11-08T15:50:36.000Z
article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:01:02.310Z
og:title: Meanwhile This Playful Beluga Is Clearly Ready to Make a World Cup Team
og:description: The adorable video you need today
og:url: https://time.com/5722239/beluga-whale-fetch/
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twitter:title: Meanwhile This Playful Beluga Is Clearly Ready to Make a World Cup Team
twitter:description: The adorable video you need today
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# Playful Beluga Has a Better Time Playing Fetch Than Anyone Has Doing Anything Anywhere

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by 

[Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/)


## Melissa Locker


Nov 8, 2019 3:50 PM UTC

by 

[Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/)


## Melissa Locker


Nov 8, 2019 3:50 PM UTC

In an unlikely turn of events, both dogs and rugby players are facing some stiff competition from a marine animal. A friendly [beluga whale](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/11/01/watch-deceptively-adorable-beluga-whale-bullies-little-kid/) was filmed playing “fetch” with a rugby ball and it’s pretty cute.

In a video [posted by Alan Kowen](https://www.facebook.com/alon.kowen/videos/10157295174625860/) on Facebook on Wednesday, a man spots the whale swimming alongside their boat and decides to play a little he game. As he happens to be carrying a 2019 Rugby World Cup ball with him, he chucks into the water near the whale and, to his seeming surprise, the whale goes to grab it and then brings it back to the humans in the boat. Apparently these playful antics are typical for the sea mammals. Belugas are “extremely sociable mammals”, according to [the World Wildlife Foundation](https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/beluga).

“[Beluga Whale](https://time.com/5582694/russian-spy-whale-history/) celebrating the [Springboks victory](https://time.com/5716923/rugby-world-cup-winner-south-africa/) somewhere close to the South Pole,” Kowen wrote in the caption to the Facebook post. “Spot the Cape Town build Gemini Craft and the South African accents.” It’s unclear if Kowen was the one who actually captured the footage, though, as [belugas](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/11/01/watch-deceptively-adorable-beluga-whale-bullies-little-kid/) are far more common in the North than the South, although they are known to travel South in winter and the climate crisis is altering traditional weather and migration patterns.

Wherever in the world the footage was captured the amazing video of the playful beluga has gone viral as rugby fans, whale lovers, and animal enthusiasts all cheer on the funny little whale. Even the Rugby World Cup [tweeted](https://twitter.com/rugbyworldcup/status/1192808927290953729) out their praise for the new star.

> [](https://twitter.com/rugbyworldcup/status/1192808927290953729)

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