A video of a penguin jumping into a dinghy filled with tourists in order to escape a pursuing killer-whale has gone viral.
Those on the boat were part of a group touring Antarctica and were watching the animals in their natural habitats.
The footage shows the penguin being pursued by the killer-whale, known as Orcas, before the penguin managed to jump into the boat for safety. There was some fear for the passengers as Orcas are known to tip over ice floating in the ocean in order to catch penguins, and it was worried that the whale could try to tip over the boat. While the killer-whales did pursue the boat for a short time it then swam away.
Two travel bloggers, Matt Karsten, 40, and his wife Anna Karsten, 32, were part of the tour group. They later recounted their experience to their followers.
Matt said:
"It was crazy to see in person. It was like watching a National Geographic episode on location. I imagine the penguin was very relieved to get away. We were heading out for a scenic Zodiac cruise between icebergs when a large pod of orcas showed up playing in the water besides us. They swam right up to the camera and said hello. Suddenly the orcas started chasing a gentoo penguin trying to eat it. Back and forth they went with the penguin swimming fast with the orcas on its trail. Eventually the poor penguin tried to jump into a nearby zodiac boat."
He added:
"The penguin failed at first, falling back into the water, but then managed on the second attempt. The orcas did follow the zodiac boat for a while. They did give up in the end leaving the penguin safe with his new friends. After cruising for a little bit, the penguin said goodbye to the boat and hopped back into the icy water."
This isn't the first time an animal escaping an orca by jumping into a boat has been caught on camera. In Alaska's Halibut Cove, an otter was filmed jumping into a boat to escape a pursuing orca. He made it with just seconds to spare:
[h/t: Good News Network]
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