A wildlife photographer captured dramatic video of a pod of orcas hunting a seal that survived by jumping on the back of her boat.
Charvet Drucker was out on a whale-watching trip in waters off Camano Island in Washington earlier this month when she spotted the pod of at least eight killer whales swimming and slapping their tails.
Drucker used the zoom lens on her camera to spot a harbour seal that was trying to flee from the pod. One of her shots showed the seal flying through the air above the scrum of orcas frothing the water, and she assumed she was witnessing the seal’s last moments alive.
But as the orcas got closer to her boat, Drucker realized that the pod was still searching for the seal.
In line with wildlife boating regulations, they had to cut the engine to prevent any injury to the whales. That’s when the seal got closer to her boat, clambered out of the water and onto the swimming platform at the stern of the boat.
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Drucker didn’t get close to the seal or interfere with the mammal but she did begin to film video of the interaction.
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“You poor thing,” Drucker can be heard saying, as the seal looks up at her. “You’re good, just stay, buddy.”
The orcas began to swim closer to the boat, which made the boat rock and caused the seal to fall off the swim platform.
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Drucker’s video shows the orcas lining up and moving in on the boat with staggered dives to create waves. The “wave-washing” hunting technique has been documented by scientists since at least the 1980s, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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The seal scrambled back onto Drucker’s boat, slipped off twice, and finally managed to climb aboard again to escape the pod.
After about 15 minutes the orcas swam away and the seal remained safe onboard.
“The orcas, after 15-20 minutes, decided the seal wasn’t worth the trouble and leave to meet up with the other pod members,” Drucker wrote in a caption on Instagram. “The seal figured out the back seat pushed down and made his way further on the boat.”
In another video, Drucker shared footage of the seal hanging out on the boat as it sped away from the location of the hunt before it eventually leaped back into the water.
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“The seal made it and we were able to safely bring it closer to shore. Once it felt comfortable, it left in [sic] its own accord,” Drucker wrote on Instagram.
— With files from The Associated Press
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