Last Monday, a terrified seal jumped onto the back of a tour boat off the coast of Vancouver Island, Canada to escape a hungry pod of killer whales. The extraordinary event was caught on camera by YouTuber Kirk Fraser and went viral soon after.

“We had four or five orcas all at once sitting at the back of the boat straight up and down sort of looking at the seal,” tour guide Nick Templeman told CNN. “They would dive and they would all disappear – about 12 of them – and you can see shape after shape trying to come up from under the boat.”

Though Templeman has been whale watching for 20 years, it’s the first time he’s seen such an extreme orca hunt. “The seal did get scared during the encounter,” explained Templeman. “He would get in the water, swim back up and get back on the boat. This was not one family group but three or four family groups.” Luckily for the seal, after about a half-an-hour, the orcas gave up and disappeared. “The seal took a few minutes, went into the water, hesitated around the engines and then left,” added Templeman. The little guy was cheered by the tourists as he swam off.

More info: YouTube (h/t: distractify)

A terrified seal was surrounded by 12 hungry orcas when he suddenly spotted a tour boat

The seal jumped right onto the back of the boat to escape the pod of killer whales

“The seal did get scared during the encounter,” said tour guide Nick Templeman

“He would get in the water, swim back up and get back on the boat”

“We had four or five orcas all at once sitting at the back of the boat straight up and down sort of looking at the seal”

Luckily for the seal, after about a half-an-hour, the orcas gave up and disappeared

“The seal took a few minutes, went into the water, hesitated around the engines and then left”

“Thank you, humans!”

Watch the full video here: