A video of penguin escaping the jaws of a killer whale is going viral on the internet. The nail-biting video was recorded by a tourist aboard a dinghy in the Gerlache Strait, near the tip of Antarctica.
The video shows the penguin pacing near their vehicle as killer whales chased it. Just as the on-lookers thought the penguin’s game was over, it made a leap towards the dinghy and was helped by the on-lookers to make the escape.
“It was crazy to see in person. It was like watching a National Geographic episode on location,” Matt Karsten, a travel writer based in Mexico’s Yucatan, who was on-board, was quoted saying.
“I imagine the penguin was very relieved to get away.”
Karsten was accompanied by his wife Anna as they recorded the video. The Antarctic travellers were there to see the icebergs when they noticed whales “playing in the water beside us” which Karsten began to film.
“They swam right up to the camera and said hello,” he further said. Initially they thought it was just the whales swimming, but soon noticed the penguin running for its life.
“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,” Karsten said. As the penguin neared the dinghy he made a huge leap to jump on board and was eventually helped by the tourists. It laid low until the coast was clear, the eye witnesses said.
After cruising for a little bit, the penguin said goodbye to the boat and hopped back into the icy water,” Karsten was quoted as saying.
