Seal escapes hunting whales by jumping onto boat in the US
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The pod of around eight killer whales – also known as transient orcas – saw the seal and went after it.
PHOTO: CHARVET DRUCKER/FACEBOOK
A wildlife photographer on a whale-watching trip off the coast of the United States got more than she bargained for when a seal jumped onto her boat to escape a pod of hungry whales.
Ms Charvet Drucker was on the boat with her friends on Nov 2 when they spotted the Bigg’s orcas at Saratoga passage off Camano Island in Washington state.
The pod of around eight killer whales – also known as transient orcas, as they roam from Alaska to Northern California, hunting seals, sea lions, and other marine mammals – saw the seal and went after it.
Desperate to escape its predators, the seal swam straight towards Ms Drucker’s boat and “decided to jump onto the boat for safety”, she wrote on Facebook.
A video she posted shows the seal at the stern of the boat.
“Oh, you poor thing,” Ms Drucker says, as the terrified seal looks up at her. “You’re good – just stay, buddy.”
The determined orcas did not give up and circled the boat in the hopes of getting the seal. They left only after about 15 minutes.
“Once we got closer to shore, the seal decided it felt safe enough to leave the boat and jumped off on its own accord,” she said in the Facebook post.
She said she decided to name the seal Bahati, which means lucky in Swahili.
“Seemed fitting since it definitely lucked out today, being able to outrun/outsmart more than six orcas.”
