A sea otter made a desperate leap for survival when it found itself being chased by a killer whale in Alaska — and its escape plan was almost unbelievable.
The dramatic encounter unfolded in Halibut Cove Lagoon, where John Dornellas, 37, and others were aboard a boat when they noticed an otter swimming rapidly toward them.
Behind the frightened animal was a huge orca.
Realizing the otter was being pursued, the group took the engines out of gear and watched as the desperate animal raced closer to the boat. With the killer whale closing in, the otter suddenly made its move.
It climbed aboard the boat and positioned itself beside the engine, apparently seeking refuge from its enormous predator just metres away.
One of the stunned witnesses can be heard encouraging the exhausted animal: “Come on up, bud.”
The remarkable footage then reveals the scale of the danger — with the killer whale visible in the water close to the boat.
Dornellas later described the encounter as an “unreal experience,” explaining that the group had stopped the boat about 200 yards offshore when they watched the otter swimming toward them at full speed with the orca in pursuit.
The encounter also raised concern among the witnesses that the killer whale may have been pursuing an otter pup.
For one terrified sea otter, however, the boat offered an unexpected lifeline.
In the middle of an Alaskan lagoon, a small leap onto a human boat may have made the difference between life and death.