A harbour seal nearly became the lunch of a humpback whale (VIDEO)

This unusual encounter took place in the Strait of Juan de Fuca when a group of whale watchers witnessed a harbour seal caught in the mouth of a humpback whale named Zillion. The photos, taken by Brooke Casanova, an employee of Blue Kingdom Whale and Wildlife Tours, quickly went viral online, causing astonishment to all who saw them.

Humpback whales tend to feed by filtration, consuming huge quantities of small marine invertebrates such as krill. They open their huge mouths and capture the water along with their prey, filtering out the food with their whisker-like plates. However, the harbour seal was in the "wrong place at the wrong time" when the Zillion whale made its usual "dash" for food.

Fortunately, the SEAL managed to escape the whale's jaws unharmed. Although such encounters are extremely rare, they illustrate how unpredictable interactions in the marine environment can be.