Video shows whale 'dancing' at Conn. wedding

[August 05, 2011]  MYSTIC, Conn. (AP) -- Trainers say a beluga whale seen bobbing to the music of a mariachi band on a wedding video taken at a Connecticut aquarium wasn't really dancing.

The video has become an Internet hit since being posted by Bill Kurtz of West Haven, a guest at the July wedding of Kimberly Mikenis and Kevin Van Aelst of New Haven.

But Mystic Aquarium senior trainer Kelly O'Neil tells the New Haven Register (http://bit.ly/qAlXUR) that Juno, the 1,200-pound beluga on the video, has been trained to bob in response to certain arm movements, and was apparently responding to the movements of the band's guitar player.

O'Neil says the whale's apparent interest in the wedding was probably due to the music's vibrations, those physical cues and the whale's natural curiosity.

___

Information from: New Haven Register, http://www.nhregister.com/

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.