This Whale Just Threw A Seal 80 Feet Into The Flippin' Air

Whale high there.

Here's some pretty ridiculous footage of a seal flying (for a short time) through the sky after an orca whale flipped it up like it was a pancake.

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The footage came from a longer video captured by Roll.Focus Productions, who were filming a group of whales known as the "T69s."

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The production company was partnering with Eagle Wing Whale Watching Tours, and in a Facebook post they explain just what happened.

"T69c is the large male orca that caught and killed a Pacific harbour Seal. I have been doing this for 18 years and have only had the pleasure of seeing this magnificent 'hunt' of a marine mammal being thrown in the air about 4 times. This is not only the best of the 4 I have experienced but the only one we have captured on film."

Orca whales are incredibly smart hunters, able to search for prey alone or as a pack. Here's footage of them working together to knock a seal off a floating barge of ice.

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This isn't the first time whales have been seen throwing their prey into the air, either. Here's some footage from 2014 in Alaska.

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A similar incident was caught in 2008. At the time, researchers said it they weren't sure why the whales do it.

"Killer whales often play with their food in this way. We don't really know why they do that - it's one of many mysteries that surround these fascinating animals."

They also report on an instance where a group of whales dismembered a five-metre manta ray by hurling it into the air.

You can watch the complete footage of the 80-foot toss here:

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