A group of tourists in Mexico just had an experience that they will never forget when a 40-foot gray whale and her calf came up to their boats to play.

The tourists were in two boats in Laguna Ojo de Liebre near Guerrero Nego when the two creatures started diving underneath their boats. The two whales proceeded to push the boats around playfully, as can be seen on a video captured by 63-year-old Oskar Lehner.

In the video, the two gray whales can be seen swimming between the tourist boats and lifting their snouts out of the water to be stroked. The mother whale is shown encouraging her calf to keep playing with the boat, letting her baby know that it was okay to make friends with the humans.

Lehner, a college professer from Linz, Austria, described this as a “moving and emotional experience.”

“My partner and I were on boat tour that lasted about two and half hours, and the whales met us half a mile off the coast,” he said. “What was remarkable about our encounter with the whales is how gently they were treating our boat – they could easily have flipped it whilst diving underneath, but didn’t.”

“However, they liked to push us like a toy in various directions which was quite entertaining; we never felt like we were in any danger,” he added. “The mother whales were encouraging or even pushing their two-month-old babies to approach the boat and to play with us. According to our guide Shari the mothers were taking a nap while we were petting the babies. She also said that only 50 per cent of the babies survive the journey north.”

This is definitely a moment that will be treasured for years to come by these lucky tourists. Watch the video below to see their amazing encounter with the whales!