SEATTLE — A wildlife photographer on a whale-watching trip in the waters off Seattle captured dramatic video and photos of a pod of killer whales hunting a seal that only survived by climbing onto the back of her boat.
Charvet Drucker was on a 20-foot (6-meter) rented boat near her home on an island in the Salish Sea about 40 miles northwest of Seattle when she spotted a pod of at least eight killer whales, also known as orcas.
The orca’s coordinated movements and tail slaps indicated that it was hunting. Drucker used the zoom lens on her camera to spot a harbor seal that was trying to escape the chamber. One of her shots showed the seal flying through the air above a horde of killer whales foaming up the water, and she assumed she was witnessing the seal’s last moments alive.
But as the killer whales approached the boat, Drucker and her group realized the pod was still chasing the seal. In line with wildlife boating regulations, they cut off the engine to prevent any injury to the whales. The seal climbed out of the water onto the swimming platform at the back of the boat near the engine, mistaking it for a life raft of sorts.
Wildlife regulations also prohibit touching or interfering with the seal, but Drucker began shooting video.
Drucker can be heard saying, “Poor thing,” as the seal looks at her. “You’re good, just stay buddy.”
The killer whales did not surrender immediately, but instead seemed to cooperate to rock the boat and make the seal fall. Drucker’s cellphone video shows the killer whales lining up and moving on the boat with intermittent dives to create waves. The “wave wash” technique has been documented by scientists since at least the 1980s, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The seal on Drucker’s boat slipped at least once, but was able to climb back up, and the killer whales swam away about 15 minutes later.
Drucker has photographed dead seals in the mouths of killer whales before, and says she generally feels happy when the whales eat.
“I’m definitely team orca, all day, every day. But once that seal was on the boat, I kind of switched (to) team seal,” she said in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday.
The killer whales that hunt seals and a variety of marine animals in the area are known as killer whales or “transient” killer whales. They feed better than other, more specialized species such as salmon-focused “resident” killer whales that are listed as endangered, according to NOAA.