Parakeets, which comprise about 115 species of seed-eating parrots, are frequently bred and sold commercially as pets. They’re intelligent, social, and can live up to 12 years in captivity.
They can even apparently take a plunge inside a custom-made submarine, as Steven Lawyer, owner of a six-year-old parakeet named Bebe, established during a fascinating experiment in the Bahamas.
A video, which has swiftly gone viral, shows the bird chilling inside a DIY sub made of a paintball air cylinder, oxygen meter, and lead weights.
“We like to snorkel and he likes doing whatever we are doing with us,” Lawyer told CBS affiliate WBNS. “So I thought ‘lets figure out a way to let him snorkel with us.'”
His mini submarine, dubbed the “Bebosphere,” allowed the green parakeet to dive to around three feet below the surface, giving it an unprecedented glance at the colorful reefs — something his species has likely never seen firsthand before.
Bebe appeared to stay cool throughout the entire ordeal.
“I know my bird, I know what he looks like when he’s nervous,” Lawyer told WBNS. “He’s intrigued in that video. He voluntarily went into the tube.”
Apart from exploring underwater worlds, Bebe has also accompanied Lawyer on 15 different sky dives. Footage the bird owner uploaded to YouTube shows Bebe safely sealed in a transparent bubble attached his chest as he jumps out of an airplane.
Other pundits were left unimpressed by the bird’s latest underwater stunt, raising the possibility that the parakeet has less agency than Lawyer claims.
“It’s adorable, but I think we’re using the words ‘exploring’ and ‘submarine’ very generously here,” joked Late Show host Stephen Colbert during an episode that aired on Monday, referring to a headline that read “Bebe the Parrot goes viral for exploring Bahamas in custom built submarine.”
“That headline could also read ‘confused bird trapped in Nalgene bottle would like this to be over,'” he added.
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