Seal jumps on B.C. family’s boat to avoid becoming orca snack

A family says three orcas circled their boat after a seal came aboard to avoid becoming a meal.

A Vancouver Island woman is sharing the moment a seal climbed aboard her family’s boat while several orcas bumped against it.

Shauna Bradford said the wild encounter happened near Ladysmith on Jan. 18.

Bradford said she, her husband and their six-year-old daughter were checking their crab traps at the end of a day on the water when they noticed a pod of orcas in the distance.

“We also noticed that there was a seal in the middle of the pod … so we were actually feeling pretty sorry for the seal,” Bradford told CTV News.

“Then they disappeared. We didn’t see anything and then within a minute, I was just absolutely shocked. There was an orca and a seal right beside the boat.”

Videos shared on Bradford’s social media show the animals bumping against the boat, which had its engine turned off.

She said three whales and the seal swam around the boat for about 30 seconds before the seal jumped into the motorwell—a moment also captured on video.

“(It) scared me, scared my family,” Bradford said. “It was absolutely beautiful and absolutely terrifying.”

At one point, Bradford said her daughter, Tayla, wanted to leave the area. That wasn’t an option, as turning on the engine could have injured the orcas.

“Every time we’re on the water, we try to respect the land, respect the animals, respect the harvest,” Bradford said.

“So in those moments … when we’re trying to calm our daughter, we’re trying to let her know, like, Mother Nature is doing their thing and you can’t interfere.”

The whales continued to circle the boat for another 10 minutes before taking off, she said. The seal bailed a few minutes later.

“I’m looking back at it as a very humbling, terrifying, beautiful experience that our family got to have while enjoying a regular day on the water,” Bradford said.