A seal escaped the jaws of hungry orcas by hitching a ride on a nearby tourist vessel on July 1, and the encounter was caught on video.

Several transient orcas were hunting the harbour seal in Frederick Arm, an inlet located about 1.5 hours north of Campbell River by boat, when the savvy animal swam up to the boat and climbed aboard.

Footage provided by Pacific Yellowfin Charters shows the worried-looking animal hiding behind the boatB次元官网网址檚 outboard motor on the swim grid, a low platform at the stern of the vessel.

The clever seal occasionally glances up at the humans aboard the 26-foot fishing boat. But itB次元官网网址檚 mostly focused on its hungry hunters, which circulate below and breach menacingly just meters away.

Colin Griffinson, captain of a B次元官网网址渓uxury expeditionB次元官网网址� ship called the Pacific Yellowfin, said that crew members were going ashore in their smaller craft, the Yellowfin Swan, when they observed the pod of whales attacking a seal.

The melee continued for some time without a kill, and the seal made a break for it.

B次元官网网址淗e got away and just came bee-lining for our boat, from about 150 feet away,B次元官网网址� he said. Sure enough, the animal climbed aboard the Swan and lived to see another day.

The animal now has a name: Lucky.

B次元官网网址淲e said, what will we call the seal if we actually ended up keeping it?B次元官网网址� said Griffinson. B次元官网网址淲e just joked that weB次元官网网址檇 call it Lucky.B次元官网网址�

He described it as a B次元官网网址渂ig, fat sealB次元官网网址� and a B次元官网网址渧ery healthy animal.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淢aybe thatB次元官网网址檚 why they didnB次元官网网址檛 kill it so easy,B次元官网网址� he said.

B次元官网网址淚t was a prime sealB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址渙bviously it had some smarts because it survived this far,B次元官网网址� he said.

Griffinson stressed that he didnB次元官网网址檛 intend to interfere with the hunt. Indeed, the crew was B次元官网网址渓ooking forward to seeing a kill,B次元官网网址� he said.

It was the first time an animal had actually jumped aboard one of his vessels, Griffinson said.

To deal with the situation, he consulted with Nick Templeman, who was also on the scene, observing the orcas on another vessel with a whale researcher.

Templeman, owner-operator of Campbell River Whale and Bear Excursions, had experienced this kind of thing before. A seal jumped onto his boat in 2017. He also witnessed a seal leaping into someoneB次元官网网址檚 Zodiac last year, he said.

Both seafarers said they werenB次元官网网址檛 worried the orcas would flip the Swan in pursuit of their prey.

B次元官网网址淭he orcas know what theyB次元官网网址檙e doing,B次元官网网址� said Templeman, saying the whales are too intelligent to recklessly destroy a boat for a snack.

Griffinson also said that in his many encounters with orcas during fishing trips, whales have never interfered with his equipment.

The whole encounter unf0lded over the course of 30-45 minutes. And while the seal held on for dear life, the whales also hung around.

B次元官网网址淭hey continue[d] to look and wait for that seal,B次元官网网址� he said.

Griffinson eventually navigated away from the scene. But even after some gentle prodding with a pole, the seal wouldnB次元官网网址檛 disembark.

B次元官网网址淲e did give it a push at one point in time, but it just got back on again,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲e decided that the seal had had a tough enough day and we werenB次元官网网址檛 going to bug it anymore.B次元官网网址�

The crew opted to leave the seal aboard the boat at the dock. But as they entered the shallows, near a spot where the seals haul out, Lucky slipped away.

B次元官网网址淗e obviously recognized the place,B次元官网网址� Griffinson. B次元官网网址淗e just jumped off.B次元官网网址�