A Reddit user circulated a striking wildlife video from near Victoria, British Columbia, in which an orca sends a harbor seal soaring high above the water.
What happened?
Shared to r/NatureIsF******Lit, the post picked up thousands of upvotes. One person in the thread identified the whale as T69C Kye, a Bigg's transient male born in 1995 and part of the mammal-eating West Coast transient group.
(Click here if the embedded video does not appear.)
The footage shows the seal being flung high into the air. In the comments, users familiar with marine mammal behavior said the move was a recognized hunting method used by transient orcas that prey on seals and other marine mammals.
"The specific behaviour of Bigg's (transient) orcas striking prey up into the air with their tail flukes is known as catapulting," one of the top commenters explained.
Why does it matter?
The video, shared on YouTube 10 years ago, offers a look at how specialized orca populations hunt in the wild.
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Bigg's orcas, or transient killer whales, hunt marine mammals rather than fish, and the clip highlights how forceful and coordinated those attacks can be.
The user who identified Kye cited an unlinked source to declare the behavior "may be used to debilitate, kill the prey, and even soften the pinniped's tough outer hide."
What are people saying?
Commenters were filled with a mix of disbelief and admiration.
"That got to hurt. Wow," one said, to which another replied: "Seals have been killed on impact from this. Wild."
Another user wrote, "I think the seal actually hits a gull midair too."
"His fate was sealed," the original poster joked.
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