Video: Seal Slaps Kayaker in Face With Octopus

A video captured the moment a seal attacked a kayaker in New Zealand with an octopus.

Kyle Mulinder was kayaking near Kaikoura when he felt a slap in the face before realizing that it was an octopus that was tossed at him by a seal.

“Out of nowhere, it literally rose from the depths, as it was mid-fight, thrashed it around, and the rest is history,” said Mulinder, according to CBS. He was recognized after posting the video on social media: “My Uber driver who just brought us here just goes ‘you’re the guy, you’re the octopus guy.’”

His friend, Taiyo Masuda, told CNN that it was a “beautiful day (and) seals were swimming and enjoying sun on the rocks.”

He added: “Right around lunchtime, several seals started to swim around. We just thought they were refreshing their body, yet apparently they were seeking more of food.”

But then, a seal came next to them with an octopus in its mouth. The seal then tried to chew the animal “but ended up slapping our face,” he said.

“We instantly started laughing, we certainly got surprised. We are all adventure guys but we don’t encounter that every day! Such a raw moment, brought us so much laughter to all of us all day long... What a day to remember!” Masuda said.

The octopus wasn’t killed in the incident, but it held on to the bottom of Mullinder’s kayak until another kayaker pried it off with an oar.

The video was uploaded to Instagram, getting thousands of views this week.