Overview
- Wildlife photographer Charvet Drucker filmed the encounter off Camano Island in Washington’s Salish Sea during a Nov. 2 whale-watching outing.
- A pod estimated at six to eight Bigg’s (transient) orcas circled the 20-foot boat and used wave-producing dives and tail slaps in a coordinated hunt.
- The harbor seal slid from the swim platform at least once, reboarded multiple times, and remained aboard as the whales gave up after roughly 15–20 minutes.
- Following boating and wildlife rules, the group cut the engine and did not touch the seal, then moved closer to shore where it departed on its own.
- Drucker posted a series of videos to Instagram and Facebook that news outlets later reported, with NOAA noting the wave-washing tactic has been documented since the 1980s.