Watch This: 4 more of our favorite animal videos this summer (so far)

ANIMALS  |   EXPLORERS  |  NEWS  |  ADVENTURE

We're glad so many of you enjoyed last week's all-animals edition! Here are a few more of our favorite wildlife videos.

|     1:01    |     ANIMALS    | Adorable Bear Cubs Hitch a Ride on Mom's Back There’s nothing like a good piggyback ride when you’re feeling worn out, as two bear cubs learn in this video. The grizzly bear cubs hitch a ride on their mom’s backas she swims across Lake Aleknagik in Wood-Tikchik State Park in Alaska. When she reaches dry land, the cubs tumble off and promptly follow her as she moves out of the camera’s line of sight. It’s an adorable scene, but it’s also fairly rare—neither park officials nor wildlife biologists said they had seen a bear ferry her cubs across water before. Click here to read more. —Hannah Lang, intern WATCH NOW SHARE

|     1:06    |     ANIMALS    | Watch: Elephant Rescued After Being Swept 10 Miles Out to Sea An elephant is one of the last things I would expect to find 10 miles away from the shore. But that’s exactly what Sri Lankan navy officials spotted during a routine patrol. Using ropes to guide it, the navy was able to successfully help the elephant to land after 12 long hours. Surprisingly, elephants are great swimmers, but it’s likely this one could have succumbed to exhaustion without human intervention. Read more about the rescue here. —Sarah Gibbens, online writer WATCH NOW SHARE

|     3:41    |     101 VIDEOS    | Blue Whales 101 Blue whales are incredible creatures, which made this video a lot of fun to write and research. It features five of the most bizarre facts I came across, my favorite being about how you can tell a blue whale's age. (It’s surprising and utterly fascinating.) I hope these facts will inspire others to learn more and care about these tremendous animals! —Angeli Gabriel, writer/host WATCH NOW SHARE

|     0:55    |     ANIMALS    | Watch: Curious Puffin Befriends a Tourist I love that this tourist had the presence of mind to record this scene with a curious puffin. The bird, probably on land to breed, waddles up to take stock of her and spends some time poking at her camera lens before continuing on its way (0:30). Click here to read more about the charming encounter. Or watch a recent video of ours in which some baby raccoons make a human friend. —Will Halicks, senior producer WATCH NOW SHARE

What did you think of our picks this week? Let us know at watchthis@natgeo.com.

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