A woman witnessed the brutal side of nature in the waters south of Nanaimo last week.
Lindsay Bryant was getting ready to go for a swim in the ocean off the Cedar shoreline south of Nanaimo on Thursday, Nov. 16, at about 12:30 p.m., when she saw a sea lion behaving unusually in Stuart Channel about 100 metres offshore.
乌鸦传媒淚 was getting ready to go for a swim, which I do several times a week there, and it乌鸦传媒檚 not uncommon to see a sea lion eating fish 乌鸦传媒� throwing them around a little bit,乌鸦传媒� Bryant said.
At first the sea lion乌鸦传媒檚 behaviour caused her to suspect the animal might be in distress, possibly even caught in a net, or was ill, but it was only after Bryant picked up her cell phone and video recorded the activity that she realized what she had seen.
乌鸦传媒淚t went on for about five minutes, or so, and I couldn乌鸦传媒檛 quite tell from where I was, exactly what it was until I go home and sat down and looked at my video and zoomed in,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淚 was a little surprised to see that it was an octopus.乌鸦传媒�
Bryant said in the first few moments in the video it appears the octopus is putting up a fight and trying to grab onto the sea lion乌鸦传媒檚 head.
乌鸦传媒淚t looked like the octopus kind of had a hold on it. It was putting up a fight, for sure,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淲ith all those legs I can乌鸦传媒檛 imagine it would be an easy catch.乌鸦传媒�
In the video the sea lion can be seen thrashing with the octopus in its mouth and then tossing the animal before going after it and repeating the action. After a few moments the activity quieted down and the sea lion submerged.
乌鸦传媒淭he sea lion sort of went under the water for a minute, things quieted down and then, maybe 10 or 15 second later, I saw it surface up the channel a little bit more so I乌鸦传媒檓 assuming he had his lunch,乌鸦传媒� Bryant said.
She enjoys swimming in cold winter water of the channel, which she said has health benefits, and she participates in polar bear swims as well.
乌鸦传媒淚t started as a New Year乌鸦传媒檚 Day tradition with my sister and then we just started going more and more,乌鸦传媒� she said.
Bryant said she wished she had a better camera to record the event. Based on the size of the sea lion, which she said is one of the larger ones she乌鸦传媒檚 seen in the area, she estimated the octopus was fairly large too.
乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檇 never seen an octopus before 乌鸦传媒� I had in an aquarium, but not in the wild乌鸦传媒ξ谘淮綕 she said. 乌鸦传媒淚 usually paddleboard out there, so I乌鸦传媒檓 slightly glad I wasn乌鸦传媒檛 out in the water with them.乌鸦传媒�
To view the video of the sea lion and octopus encounter, visit .
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