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Evening divers exploring waters off Vancouver Island with a digital camera in hand had been left surprised after witnessing a harbour seal assault a Big Pacific octopus.
“Oh my God!” diver Maxime Veilleux is heard saying within the video as she comes throughout the encounter close to Nanoose Bay, north of Nanaimo, on Monday.
At first, nevertheless, Veilleux and fellow divers didn’t understand what was occurring earlier than their eyes within the depths of the Strait of Georgia.
“We discovered this seal the wrong way up,” stated Veilleux in a voiceover added to the two-minute video, which was uploaded to her YouTube channel later that night time.
“We thought he was feeding on some algae on a rock, however as we received nearer, we noticed this…”
That’s when an octopus appeared.
“The seal was attacking a Big Pacific octopus. You could possibly see it pulling on the octopus’ arm. Then the seal went up for some air and got here again down,” stated Veilleux within the voiceover. “Clearly, the octopus was drained, however when the seal got here again down, it tried to flee and inked at him.”
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In an electronic mail to CHEK Information, Veilleux stated, “To my data, that is the primary time this has been captured on digital camera!” She went on to say she “felt actually unhealthy for the octopus, however I don’t suppose people ought to intrude with nature.”
Ultimately, the seal “lastly managed to tear one arm off,” added Veilleux. “And the octopus swam away with seven remaining arms.”
Octopuses are known to regrow misplaced arms.
In keeping with the Marine Mammal Analysis Unit, which relies out of the College of British Columbia, a harbour seal’s weight-reduction plan contains cephalopods (squid and octopus) in addition to fish and crustaceans like shrimp and crabs.
Final November, CHEK Information spoke with Andrew Trites, the research unit’s director, after a video of a sea lion battling it out with an octopus close to Nanaimo went viral.
“It’s a battle between life and loss of life,” stated Trites on the time. “I’m happy to listen to that different folks discover this type of occasion fascinating.”
Identical to for seals, octopuses are “a kind of delicacies” for sea lions, too, famous Trites. But it surely’s a feast that’s not simple to acquire, he says, because the eight-legged animal is “going to be biting and making an attempt to avoid wasting its personal life.”
Marine wildlife encounters across the Island are ceaselessly caught on digital camera.
Final August, for instance, divers got an up-close look at a Pacific octopus at Victoria’s Ogden Level, and in December 2022, a video of an octopus in Alberni Inlet went viral.
READ ALSO: Nanaimo woman captures video of ‘life and death’ battle between sea lion, octopus
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