A peaceful whale-watching expedition became the focal point for a seal hunt, with an unwitting troupe of camera-wielding onlookers witnessing an opportunistic seal’s lucky escape.
Never mess with nature. But what if nature start’s messing with you? That’s what happened to YouTuber Kirk Fraser recently, when he and his friends were out watching a pod of orcas meandering beside their boat.
What happened next, though, was hugely unexpected, as the dozen orcas closed in on a kill in front of Fraser and co’s very eyes.
The seal, spotting a novel opportunity to evade the deathly grip of the killer whales’ teeth, hopped up on the back of the boat and struggled its way to safety.
However, it probably wasn’t too happy with the people on the boat, either, and kept falling back into the sea, where the orcas were circling in wait.
“We were out with the family looking for whales and a pod of 12 trainsiet(sic) killer whales were chasing the seal,” wrote Fraser.
“It ripped towards the boat in a desperate escape and scrambled on the deck. It fell off three times in panic and finally stayed on until the whales gave up after about 30-45 minutes.
In what Fraser called the “most intense, epic experience ever”, the “lucky seal” was named Gerald by the crew.
One of the people onboard asked an experienced whale watcher if he had ever seen something like this before. “20 years ago,” he muttered, as everyone filmed on in shock.
There was a happy ending for the seal, as the orcas went hungry.
Check out the video below, though be warned there is some NSFW language.
It’s not the first time a chase in the sea was captured on camera. Last summer, an octopus hunting down a crab became a YouTube sensation.
Main seal image via Shutterstock
