Khaberni - A video posted by wildlife photographer Sharvit Druker lit up social media after it showed killer whales collaborating to chase a seal that narrowly escaped after climbing to the stern of her boat to flee.
Druker was aboard a rented 6-meter boat near her home on one of the Salish Sea islands, northwest of Seattle, when she spotted a group of at least eight killer whales.
The coordinated movements and tail slaps of the whales showed they were in the midst of hunting, while the seal was trying to escape from the group. One of Druker's camera shots showed the seal flying through the air above the choppy water, making her believe she was witnessing the seal's final moments.
As the whales approached the boat, Druker and her companions noticed that the seal was still being pursued, so they stopped the engine in accordance with wildlife protection laws, and the seal managed to climb onto the swimming platform at the rear of the boat to use it as a temporary lifebuoy.
Druker started filming the video, while the whales tried to eliminate the new opportunity by moving the boat with successive plunges to create strong waves shaking the boat as an attempt to dislodge the seal—a technique known by scientists as "wave washing," documented since the eighties as one of the killer whales' smart hunting methods.
Despite the seal falling at least once, it managed to return to the boat until the whales moved away after about 15 minutes.
Druker told the Associated Press: "Usually, I'm on the killer whale team, but after the seal climbed onto the boat, I became on the seal's team."
She added that she helped the boat get closer to the shore to let the seal voluntarily leave the boat after it felt safe.
Notably, the killer whales that hunt seals and a variety of marine creatures are known as transient or 'Bigg's orcas' and differ from the ones specializing in salmon listed as endangered species.
These whales are top predators in the food chain and are known for the diversity of their hunting methods, including chasing juvenile great white sharks or birds near the coasts.
