Penguin: 1. Energy: 0.
Matt Karsten, 40, and his wife Anna, 32, captured disturbing footage of a gentoo penguin escaping from the jaws of a few hungry killer whales in Antarctica.
The Karstens were whale watching aboard a dinghy in the Gerlache Strait, near the tip of Antarctica, when they spotted a penguin hurrying along their course – followed by a pod of orcas just behind.
For a few minutes nail-biting, tourists watched as the penguin struggled to swim out of some of the wildest predators of the ocean, known to feed on the flyless birds as well as fish, seals and even sharks.
But just when anxious passengers were sure the penguin was done, it came out of the water in a leap to the dinghy and finally helped aboard a successful escape from the orca – and a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the travelers.
“It was crazy to see in person. “It was like watching a National Geographic episode on location,” Karsten, a travel writer in Yucatan, Mexico, told Kennedy News Agency. “I think the penguin was very relieved to get away.”
The Antarctic travelers were touring the icebergs when they first saw the pod of killer whales ‘playing next to us in the water’ that Karsten had started filming.
“They swam up to the camera and said goodbye,” he added. But their interest in his camera quickly stopped when they started chasing the gentoo penguin.
‘They swam back and forth with the penguin quickly with the orcs on his trail. “Eventually the poor penguin tried to jump into a nearby animal boat,” he said, referring to the rubber boat.
The penguin’s second attempt to land in the boat was a success, although the whales were hard pressed to give up immediately.
“The orcas followed the zodiac boat for a while,” Karsten said. “After a bit of sailing, the penguin said goodbye to the boat and jumped back into the icy water,” he told Kennedy News.