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Escape from jaws of death - seal defies Mel the killer whale
30.06.09
For this giant Orca, a master killer of the seas, it should have been an easy meal. But its prey had other ideas.
The drama happened in Patagonia, rich pickings for killer whales that target seal pups in shallow waters. The hunter is something of a celebrity: a 50-year-old male called Mel which had been studied by David Attenborough in his Trials of Life documentaries.
The hunt was captured by British photographer and conservationist Rob Lott, who was studying the behaviour of a group of Orcas. Mel, with his distinctive two-metre dorsal fin, is seen homing in on the seal, above.
But in desperation the prey scrambles on to the beach, left... and escapes the jaws of a killer.
