A deadly moment was recently captured on video, with a small harbor seal making a desperate jump for safety near Seattle in the United States.
Charvet Drucker, a wildlife photographer, was sitting in her 20-foot boat and witnessed the scene. She saw a pod of eight killer whales gliding through the water with great speed, clearly hunting.
The photographer realized the killer whales had cornered a small harbor seal. In a flash of panic, the seal darted across the waves, making frantic, last-ditch leaps to escape.
Then, the terrified animal did the unbelievable: it jumped out of the water and landed with a flop on the deck of Drucker’s boat. The instant sanctuary that was now his boat became a safe place from the sharp teeth of its powerful hunters.
The Hunters and the Hunted
The waters off Washington state are teeming with life, which explains why these encounters happen. The most common marine mammal in this area, known as Puget Sound, is the harbor seal.
Harbor seals can be found along the entire Pacific Coast of North America, from Alaska all the way down to Mexico. They like to haul up on coastal rocks, mudflats, and beaches near the shore to rest.
The whales pursuing the seal were most likely Bigg’s killer whales, otherwise referred to as transient orcas. Unlike the other type of orcas that feed on fish, Bigg’s killer whales only feed on other warm-blooded marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, and porpoises.
They are known for hunting quietly and patiently in small family groups, making them highly effective predators in the Pacific Northwest.
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