See seal escape killer whales by hopping on photographer’s boat
A wildlife photographer recorded an incredible video of a seal jumping on her boat to escape a hunting pod of orcas.
A quick-thinking seal escaped a pod of killer whales by hopping onto a small boat off the coast of Washington.
Video footage captured by photographer Charvet Drucker on Nov. 2 shows the seal jumping onto a boat as 11 Biggs Orcas chased it in the Saratoga Passage off Camano Island in Washington state.
“We were out on the boat watching some orcas, about 300-400 yards away from them when the hunt began,” Drucker wrote in a post on Facebook.
The group watched as the orcas engaged in hunting techniques, such as tail lobs and porpoising. That’s where the marine animals push smaller cetaceans with their snouts or hold and carry them in their mouths, occasionally tossing them into the air, according to the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound.
But then, as the seal came up for air, the group noticed the frantic marine mammal “heading straight at us.”
Smith Siromaskul, who was also on the boat, in a post on Facebook said the “pod had been using him as hunting practice and he’d been batted up out of the water more than once.”
Clever seal jumps onto boat for safety
Drucker said at that point they shut off the boat and its engine completely, waiting to “see where (the animals) all decided to go.”
About 30-40 minutes later, the seal jumped onto the boat for safety, while the orcas began circling the boat in search of their prey. However, they gave up after about 15 minutes.
Drucker, in her post, said once the orcas left, they turned the boat on and headed toward the shore with the seal on board.
“Once we got closer to shore, the seal decided it felt safe enough to leave the boat and jumped off on its own accord,” according to Drucker.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.