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Rare observation: a seal spitting attack on an eagle
Photo: Clare Jacobs / University of Portsmouth / dpa
A seal on the British coast has caught the attention of scientists with unusual behavior.
The University of Portsmouth recently announced that a birdwatcher saw a gray seal spit a jet of water at a sea eagle on the coast of the Isle of Wight.
The bird of prey was approaching the surface of the water - probably to catch a fish - when the seal launched the spitting attack.
Previous warning calls had had no effect.
Sea eagles were long extinct on the Isle of Wight on England's south coast and were only reintroduced there in 2019.
"Sightings of gray seals and sea eagles are now common occurrences on the Isle of Wight, but interactions between these two species have not previously been reported," said paleontologist Megan Jacobs, the birdwatcher's daughter, according to a university statement.
In their opinion, it could be a strategy to outcompete sea eagles in competition for prey fish.
This is the first report of gray seals using spit as a defense or deterrent, Jacobs said.
Spitting is commonly observed in humans, camels, llamas and alpacas as well as snakes and the so-called archerfish, the statement continued.
For most vertebrates, however, this is a rather unusual behavior.
"This calls into question our traditional perception of defense mechanisms in animals," Jacobs was quoted as saying, co-authoring a report on the observation in the local science magazine "Isle of Wight Natural History and Archaeological Society Journal."
ahh/dpa