Unfortunately, as he hid and headed out to the open sea, he was caught and killed by a whale (Picture: PA)

Seals hunted by a group of whales tried to evacuate by hiding in a mussel farm.

The drone’s camera captured stunning footage of eight species of killer whales hunting common seals.

To escape them, the mussels tried to hide between two mussel ropes at the Grunavoem mussel farm north of Lerwick, Shetland Islands.

Unfortunately, as he walked out of hiding into open water, he was caught and killed by a whale.

Emily Haig, a doctoral student studying the effects of human-made structures on marine wildlife, said “they can use prey to hide from predators.” She said it was “attractive” to watch.

{“@context”: “https: \ / \ / schema.org”, “@type”: “VideoObject”, “name”: “”, “duration”: “T2M2S”, “thumbnailUrl”: “https: \ /\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2022\/07\/15\/07\/60299475-0-image-a-28_1657867080135.jpg “,” uploadDate “:” 2022-07-15T07 :38:12+0100 “,” description “:” The seal eventually left the safety of the mussel ropes and headed for open water, where it was quickly captured and killed by orcas. “,” contentUrl “:” https:\ /\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2022\/07\/15\/8820591389002872328\/480x270_MP4_8820591389002872328.mp4 “,” height “: 270,” width “: 480}

But he also warned that creatures like seals could increase their risk of becoming entangled if they spend more time in places like offshore fish farms and power plants.

The seal’s attempt to avoid the pod was captured on camera by local drone pilot Nick McCafree. Nick McCafree was alerted to the existence of a whale by detailing the sightings on a local Facebook page and WhatsApp group.

Haig, a student at Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University, analyzed 38 minutes of footage after the March incident.

“The camera rarely captures the interaction with the landscape, which makes this video very special and insightful from a scientific point of view,” says Haig. ..

Haig said the drone footage “offers a whole new perspective on how marine life, in this case two apex predators, co-exist with man-made structures in our oceans.”

The drone’s camera captured stunning footage of a harbor seal hunted by eight pods of killer whales (Image: PA)

“It is surprising that in a marine environment, predators can use these new structures to hide from predators. Such interactions are a potential risk to marine mammals. They may also shed light.

Last year, a young member of this group of killer whales died after being caught in a rope and was found off the coast of Orkney.

“If this group spends a lot of time around marine structures, there may be associated risks, such as entanglement,” Hague said.

Haig published an analysis of the case in a recent issue of Aquatics Mammals.