Drone footage shot on Saturday shows the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale swimming near Dewey Beach, Delaware. (Courtesy: Edward Russo via Storyful)
ANACORTES, Wash. – A seal miraculously survived after getting scooped up into a humpback whale’s mouth last week, leading to an incredible photo from whale watchers on a nearby boat tour in western Washington last week.
The images were captured in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, where the whale, known as Zillion, was feeding on baitfish.
“We could see a big school of baitfish – indicated by a big grouping of birds at the surface – up in front of where Zillion was heading, and so we anticipated that she would likely be heading to ‘lunge’ on that school of fish,” Tyler McKeen, owner of Blue Kingdom Tours, told FOX Weather. “And she did! And of course, as luck would have it, there was also a harbor seal feeding on the same school of baitfish – and ended up in her mouth.”
Harbor seal, circled in yellow, inside the whale’s mouth.
(Brooke Casanova, Blue Kingdom Whale and Wildlife Tours / TMX / FOX Weather)
With a look that can be interpreted as either quiet surprise or silent panic, a harbor seal could be seen scooped up with the baitfish.
Close-up of the stunned seal.
(Brooke Casanova, Blue Kingdom Whale and Wildlife Tours / TMX / FOX Weather)
Luckily, the whale quickly discovered the mishap and released the seal.
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“The whale was able to ‘cough’ the seal out of its mouth and then presumably finish eating the other baitfish it had captured in its mouth,” McKeen said. “The seal, after getting ‘spit’ out, although we can’t say with 100% certainty, was very likely unharmed (although probably bewildered!) and went on its way.”
‘Just in awe’
McKeen said the event caused quite a stir on his boat.
“When we all realized what had happened with the seal, we were all quite amused and just in awe that several of us were able to capture this moment on camera!” McKeen said. “I’m guessing that this situation probably happens in the wild more than we think, as harbor seals and humpback whales are often times feeding on the same things. But to actually capture an image of the seal in the whale’s mouth, it was very exciting!”
McKeen said whales don’t usually eat seals.
“Which is what made this incident rather amusing,” he said. “Humpbacks feed on small things – krill and small baitfish – herring and sandlance mostly.”
Many whales, such as the one photographed with the seal, are called baleen whales. This means that they eat by filtering tiny organisms, such as plankton and krill, from the water through their teeth.
There are over 900 individually cataloged humpback whales that swim the waters of the Salish Sea, which encompasses the Strait of Juan de Fuca, British Columbia’s Strait of Georgia and the waters of Puget Sound, in the summer and fall. Those include killer whales, gray whales, and minke whales, McKeen said.
“The Pacific Northwest is an amazing place for an adventure, and to experience the wild!” McKeen said. “You never quite know what you are going to see out there.”