Seal Attacks Eagle in Photos of 'Never Before Seen' Tactic

Never before seen behavior of a seal as it attacked an eagle has been captured in a rare photograph.

A study from the U.K.'s University of Portsmouth, which was published in the Isle of Wight Natural History and Archaeological Society's journal, detailed the "extraordinary event" that occurred in Newtown Harbor on the British island.

A birdwatcher, Clare Jacobs, took the photos of the scene, a release from the university said. She watched as the white-tailed eagle took a dive toward the water's surface when it was high tide. Suddenly, the gray seal leaped from the water and spat a stream of water directly at the predator.

This type of defensive behavior has never been seen before or captured in photographs.

The study said that the gray seal had previously barked a warning at the predator, which ignored it and dove toward the water anyway. As a result, scientists have gained new insights into the two predators and how they interact.

"I'm always thrilled to catch photos of the eagles. But catching such a rare and never before seen interaction made my year!" Jacobs said in a summary of the findings.

For a while, white-tailed eagles were extinct on the Isle of Wight in the 1700s, but they were introduced in 2019 and are now thriving again.

"Sightings of grey seals and white-tailed eagles are frequent events now on the Isle of Wight, but interactions between these two species have so far not been reported," said Megan Jacobs, Clare's daughter and a paleontologist from the University of Portsmouth's School of the Environment, Geography and Geosciences, said in the findings' summary.

"This is the first record of an interaction between these two top predators and the first report of grey seals using spitting as a means of defense or deterrence against an aerial foe," Megan, a co-author of the study, continued. "The spitting may be a strategy to exclude white-tailed eagles from competing for prey as they're in direct competition for fish resources."

She said that spitting is an "unusual behavioral activity," which is why this particular event was so "fascinating."

"It challenges our existing perceptions of animal defense mechanisms," she said. "I'm thrilled we've got photographic evidence as spitting is usually just seen in humans, camels, llamas and alpacas, as well as some snakes where it's used for venom delivery, and it can also be used for prey capture by the Archer fish."

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