Seal surprise: Humpback whale accidentally scoops up seal while snacking on fish

STRAIGHT OF JUAN DE FUCA, Wash. — An incredibly rare event was caught on camera Thursday in the Strait of Juan de Fuca: a humpback whale accidentally scooped up a seal while trying to snack on some fish.

Not to worry, though. The seal is unharmed.

According to the Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA), humpback whales eat small fish and krill, not seals.

While they have very large mouths, their throats are roughly the size of a grapefruit, so PWWA says they can’t swallow something as large as a seal.

A PWWA member company, Blue Kingdom Whale & Wildlife Tours from Anacortes snapped a photo of the very surprised seal in its jaws and shared it with KIRO 7.

The tour was watching humpback whale BCX1876 “Zillion” feed on a school of small bait fish at the time.

“The harbor seal was likely feeding on the same small fish and found itself in the wrong place at the wrong time,” PWWA said.

Zillion opened her jaw and lowered her head into the water so the seal could swim away.

“We occasionally see humpback whales get small birds stuck in their mouths while feeding, but a seal was a huge surprise,” PWWA said.

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