VIDEO: Sea lion spotted thrashing around in the water off Dallas Road was hunting, experts say

A video of a sea lion thrashing around in the waters along Dallas Road has piqued the interest of locals.

The video was posted to Twitter by Steffani Cameron, and appears to depict a sea lion either hunting or being hunted.

So my friend suggests I didn’t see a seal hunting fish earlier... but rather a seal being killed by a larger predator that remains below the surface.

And now that I watched it from that perspective... eek.

Did I film a seal being killed on Dallas Road? #yyj pic.twitter.com/52vNY2r8VC

— Steffani Cameron, Deep State Operative (@SnarkySteff) January 19, 2021

“So my friend suggests I didn’t see a seal hunting fish earlier... but rather a seal being killed by a larger predator that remains below the surface,” Cameron wrote in the tweet.

“And now that I watched it from that perspective... eek.”

A few theories around the video were brought up, including that an orca or a shark had gotten a hold of the sea lion.

However, anyone who has seen the video will be relieved to hear that the expert opinion is that the sea lion was not eaten by a larger predator.

Tina Kelly, learning director at the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea, told VictoriaNow that after reviewing the video multiple times the consensus is that the sea lion caught itself a fish.

Kelly explained that sea lions will thrash their catch around in order to stun it so it’s easier to eat, which explains the animal's behaviour in the video.

Sea lions also eat underwater — so the fact it didn’t resurface at the end isn’t so alarming after all.

Kelly also noted that if a larger predator had been hunting, we would have been able to see signs of it, such as a dorsal fin.

Orca whales are “dramatic” hunters, said Kelly, and they will often punt the sea lion out of the water.

So, it seems that this harbour resident lived to see another day.