VIDEO: Watch Beluga Whales in the Long Island Sound

LONG ISLAND SOUND (WABC) -- It started on Wednesday in the tri-state area off the coast of Fairfield, Connecticut; three adorable Beluga whales made a rare appearance.

Usually, they like the arctic weather, but then Friday morning in Manhasset Bay near Port Washington, some people saw them from the town dock!

"You could see a head, it just came up and went back down," a resident said.

Some people saw a lot more than that!

"Look at this, right under the boat," said Matt Meyran, of Port Washington Water Taxi. "And it turns around, it stops, it looks up at me."

The whales were extra curious and friendly with both the Port Washington Water Taxi and North Hempstead's Bay Constable. He says he's been there 17 years and never seen anything like it.

"It was from me to you, very close," said Mallory Nathan, the North Hempstead Bay Constable.

"Did they get you with the spout?" Eyewitness News asked.

"They did! I was sprayed by their breathing. It was pretty neat, " Nathan said.

But with curious whales and curious boaters out in droves this holiday weekend, authorities are hoping the general public actually does not get too close.

For the whales' safety and your own, they are urging people to stay about 150 feet away.

"Stay a safe distance and give them room," Nathan said.

What's really incredible.is that researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say these guys originally came all the way from the St Lawrence River in Canada. That's where one of them was tracked nearly two years ago.

"Take a look, that's about 920 miles away!" Nathan said. "I think it's a sign of the water quality."