Surprising attack from the depths of the ocean: Along the coast of New Zealand, the travel photographer Kyle Mulinder has made an involuntary encounter with a squid on a paddling tour.
The New Zealander got a big octopus thrown in his face in his kayak by a seal that suddenly shot out of the water. "I do not know who's the most shocked: the seal, the squid or me," Mulinder told the New Zealand Herald newspaper. At least it was the horror: he was not hurt.
Mulinder's friend Taiyo Masuda posted a video of the scene on the Internet. Masuda was testing a new camera during the kayaking excursion and filmed the incident. "It was hilarious, we laughed badly," he said. On the paddle tour with friends off the coast of New Zealand's South Island, they had been looking for seals and birds.
"There's an octopus in my boat"
In the process, Mulinder also saw how a seal fought underwater with a squid. Suddenly the two then appeared in front of his boat. The octopus landed then apparently in Mulinder's kayak, commenting on this fact several times stunned in the video: "There's an octopus on my boat!" ("There's an octopus in my boat.") The seal, on the other hand, went blank.
The squid then stuck to the kayak for a while - probably reasonably satisfied that he had escaped the seal. Mulderer's companion succeeded a little later to push him back into the water.
The Kaikoura Peninsula, where the incident occurred, is located in the northeast of the South Island of New Zealand and is known for its seal population. The seal is probably a New Zealand fur seal. The animals feed mainly on squid and small fish. When the opportunity presents, they also devour birds or octopuses.