An Oak Bay resident was in for a surprise while out in his kayak when he encountered an eagle hunting a mid-sized seal.
Jacques Sirois, a biologist, was paddling in McNeill Bay on May 8 when he spotted a long-billed dowitcher 鈥� a shorebird that forages in the mud and sand. Sirois pulled out his camera in hopes of capturing a photo when he noticed an eagle had also zeroed in on the dowitcher.
READ ALSO:
The large bird of prey decided to put on a show 鈥� it swooped in but missed its mark, Sirois said. The frustrated eagle also missed another shorebird before setting its sights on a much larger target 鈥� a seal.
The eagle dove down to the water suddenly, he said. It captured something heavy and dragged it about 100 metres through the water as Sirois watched from his kayak 鈥� camera in hand.
鈥淭he eagle did a perfect butterfly stroke to shore鈥� before hauling its catch out of the ocean, revealing the seal, he explained. Sirois guessed the seal was about one year old 鈥� a yearling 鈥� as it was too big to be a pup but clearly not full grown.
鈥淚t was a totally unplanned event,鈥� Sirois said, adding how surprised he was to see the eagle move through the water with such a heavy animal in its talons. 鈥淚 was in the right place at the right time.鈥�
Sirois pointed out that there鈥檚 a pair of eagles who live in the area and he鈥檚 seen them hunting before but never something so big.
READ ALSO:
鈥淭hey鈥檙e very busy hunting around south Oak Bay鈥� and often perch on the Trial Islands lighthouse, Sirois said.
While he was excited to capture the moment on camera, Sirois isn鈥檛 planning on framing the photos 鈥� because he simply has too many nature shots from many years of exploring the area.
鈥淲e are lucky to have so much nature here in the city,鈥� he said.
Like us on and follow us on .
