By Danny Wheeler


Right on the smacker: Photographer Dafna Ben Nussing captured the whales at their most playful


What we have here is a clear case of favouritism.

Pity the poor beluga having to wait for his peck on the nozzle from wildlife photographer Dafna Ben Nun, who braved temperatures of minus 2 degrees to capture the beautiful creatures in the White Sea, north-west Russia.

Despite the fact these ladies look almost identical, he found himself falling behind in the pecking order.

Breaking the ice: The whales seemed to enjoy playing up to the camera in temperatures of minus 2C in north west Russia


Dafna, from Israel, travelled for seven hours by truck to reach the whales and it was worth every minute of her journey as she captured them at their most playful.

In this series of images the white whales - which weigh around 3,000 lbs and measure up to 12 foot long - can be seen amazingly blowing water jets from their mouths.

The 31-year-old spent almost an hour in the water with the two female whales.

She said: 'If they don't want to do something they won't, but they are so friendly, I was playing with them and then they just starting spouting the water from their mouths, it was very funny.

Impish: The belugas blew cheeky jets of water at the photographer, who spent almost an hour in the water with the two female whales


'These whales are something of an attraction for people but because they are so remote you have to really want to see them to go there so luckily not too many people do.

'When you get in the water with them they are very curious and kept coming up to my camera.

'If I held onto their nose they would even lift me out of the water.'

Remote: The whales are something of an attraction, but many people are put off by their isolated location


Dafna said she had travelled all round the world photographing wildlife including the Amazon and Antarctica.

She said: 'The water was obviously a lot colder than the Amazon, about minus 2C because it's salt water, but it was definitely worth it.

'The whales here are two young females but their are also two males as well so people are hopeful that they will breed.'



source:dailymail