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 boat91裸聊视频檚 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 it91裸聊视频檚 mostly focused on its hungry hunters, which circulate below and breach menacingly just meters away.

Colin Griffinson, captain of a 91裸聊视频渓uxury expedition91裸聊视频� 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.

91裸聊视频淗e got away and just came bee-lining for our boat, from about 150 feet away,91裸聊视频� he said. Sure enough, the animal climbed aboard the Swan and lived to see another day.

The animal now has a name: Lucky.

91裸聊视频淲e said, what will we call the seal if we actually ended up keeping it?91裸聊视频� said Griffinson. 91裸聊视频淲e just joked that we91裸聊视频檇 call it Lucky.91裸聊视频�

He described it as a 91裸聊视频渂ig, fat seal91裸聊视频� and a 91裸聊视频渧ery healthy animal.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淢aybe that91裸聊视频檚 why they didn91裸聊视频檛 kill it so easy,91裸聊视频� he said.

91裸聊视频淚t was a prime seal91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频渙bviously it had some smarts because it survived this far,91裸聊视频� he said.

Griffinson stressed that he didn91裸聊视频檛 intend to interfere with the hunt. Indeed, the crew was 91裸聊视频渓ooking forward to seeing a kill,91裸聊视频� 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 someone91裸聊视频檚 Zodiac last year, he said.

Both seafarers said they weren91裸聊视频檛 worried the orcas would flip the Swan in pursuit of their prey.

91裸聊视频淭he orcas know what they91裸聊视频檙e doing,91裸聊视频� 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.

91裸聊视频淭hey continue[d] to look and wait for that seal,91裸聊视频� he said.

Griffinson eventually navigated away from the scene. But even after some gentle prodding with a pole, the seal wouldn91裸聊视频檛 disembark.

91裸聊视频淲e did give it a push at one point in time, but it just got back on again,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淲e decided that the seal had had a tough enough day and we weren91裸聊视频檛 going to bug it anymore.91裸聊视频�

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.

91裸聊视频淗e obviously recognized the place,91裸聊视频� Griffinson. 91裸聊视频淗e just jumped off.91裸聊视频�