Seal escapes orca hunt by leaping onto photographer’s boat

SEATTLE — A wildlife photographer out on a whale watching journey in waters off Seattle captured dramatic video and images of a pod of killer whales searching a seal that survived solely by clambering onto the strict of her boat.

Charvet Drucker was on a rented 20-foot (6-meter) boat close to her house on an island within the Salish Sea about 40 miles northwest of Seattle when she noticed a pod of a minimum of eight killer whales, also called orcas.

The orcas’ coordinated actions and tail slaps urged they have been searching. Drucker used the zoom lens on her digital camera to identify a harbor seal that was attempting to flee from the pod. One of her photographs confirmed the seal flying by means of the air above the scrum of orcas frothing the water, and she or he assumed she was witnessing the seal’s final moments alive.

But because the orcas received nearer to the boat, Drucker and her group realized the pod was nonetheless chasing the seal. In line with wildlife boating laws, that they had reduce the engine to stop any harm to the whales. The seal clambered out of the water and onto a swimming platform on the stern of the boat close to the motor — claiming it as a life raft of types.

Wildlife laws additionally prohibit touching or interfering with the seal, however Drucker started filming video.

“You poor thing,” Drucker will be heard saying, because the seal appears up at her. “You’re good, just stay, buddy.”

The orcas did not give up immediately, but instead appeared to team up to rock the boat and make the seal fall off. Drucker’s cellphone video shows the orcas lining up and moving in on the boat with staggered dives to create waves. The “wave-washing” technique has been documented since by scientists since at least the 1980s, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The seal on Drucker’s boat slid off at least once, but managed to climb back on, and the orcas swam away after about 15 minutes.

Drucker has photographed dead seals in the mouths of orcas before, and she says she’s generally happy when the whales get to eat.

“I’m definitely Team Orca, all day, every day. But once that seal was on the boat, I kind of turned (into) Team Seal,” she said in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday.

The killer whales that hunt seals and a various set of marine animals within the space are often known as Bigg’s or “transient” orcas. They are higher fed then different extra specialised species just like the salmon-focused “resident” orcas who’re on the endangered species checklist, based on NOAA.