A viral TikTok of a woman attempting to get a sea lion off of her boat while being surrounded by orcas has sparked a myriad of different responses from around the internet.
Orcas are predators, which means that the sea lion was almost certainly in danger from the school of killer whales surrounding the woman's boat. Nonetheless, she attempted to get the animal off anyway.
A sea lion hopped on this woman’s boat on tik tok with 3+ Orcas surrounding the boat to get it and they tearing the… https://t.co/UDckRC5Y6l— HOOD VOGUE is tired of poverty (@HOOD VOGUE is tired of poverty) 1632596844.0
Like omg… https://t.co/LUd0uUdgSI— HOOD VOGUE is tired of poverty (@HOOD VOGUE is tired of poverty) 1632597001.0
😭😭😭😭 https://t.co/PpBFc68P3c— HOOD VOGUE is tired of poverty (@HOOD VOGUE is tired of poverty) 1632597222.0
they literally don’t rest until they get their food like ain’t no telling what they would’ve done to her boat 😭😭 I… https://t.co/Ie9wEuJhzs— HOOD VOGUE is tired of poverty (@HOOD VOGUE is tired of poverty) 1632597776.0
Orcas, while generally non-aggressive toward humans, are top-of-the-food-chain predators nonetheless. They are ruthless and have been known to tip boats over while working together in order to get their prey.
So should the sea lion have stayed on the woman's boat, there's no telling what may have happened to both the woman and her boat.
@keyon her: "you gotta go" the sea lion: https://t.co/3p1Hym64nZ— olivia⁷∞🌹🦋♡black lives matter♡ (@olivia⁷∞🌹🦋♡black lives matter♡) 1632597173.0
@keyon No the murder oreos are surrounding the sea pupper— Sunisa Lee's Backyard Beam (@Sunisa Lee's Backyard Beam) 1632657074.0
@keyon Definitely would’ve pushed the mf off https://t.co/owWSvnYr6W— OVER IT (@OVER IT) 1632606528.0
@keyon Those orcas can flip that boat with ease https://t.co/pf6VWYu8ck— Gil Belichick (@Gil Belichick) 1632655272.0
As orcas are a protected species in the wild, turning on an engine while in close proximity could harm the orcas and potentially lead to fines or jail time, which is why effectively our original poster was left in a bad position with the sea lion.
I really love how the sea lion is like no, you’ll get it in a minute but I’m *not* moving https://t.co/cLjiAYFTSh— 🗯 (@🗯) 1632571639.0
When you’re gonna be fine https://t.co/jnD2cJLJPs— 🗯 (@🗯) 1632579010.0
@samthielman So she had time to TikTok but couldn’t call for some help maybe?— 💜MommaGeri (@💜MommaGeri) 1632580432.0
@samthielman More of it. He gets off https://t.co/VGcHFXRF2Y— Ichigo Niggasake (@Ichigo Niggasake) 1632591637.0
@Souza101Matt The orcas WILL tip her boat to get to what they want to eat. I need you to understand: orcas are blac… https://t.co/4Wvz7osaaG— Radiation survey and ship all the ships (@Radiation survey and ship all the ships) 1632596962.0
Eventually, it appears the orcas did leave the boat alone and the woman got to safety.
Unfortunately, the fate of the sea lion cannot be vouched for.