Ernest and Viesia Godek were fishing off the British Columbia coast when their small vessel was nearly capsized by a sea lion that jumped onto the boat trying to escape three killer whales. Boat operator Mark Malleson said the 700-800 pound sea lion could have seriously hurt a passenger if it landed on them.

Sea lion jumps on boat trying to escape killer whales | Picture courtesy: CTV News

Photo : YouTube

Canada: Two boaters fishing off the British Columbia coast were shocked, to say the least, when their small boat was nearly capsized by a sea lion trying to escape killer whales.

Ernest and Viesia Godek were angling at Pedder Bay, near Victoria when they spotted three killer whales near their vessel and cut the engines off.

The couple said they soon began to hear “banging” under the boat only for a California sea lion to emerge from the side. The pinniped seemingly came out of nowhere and jumped onto the boat in an attempt to flee the killer whales.

“It tipped the boat over to the point where we had to hang on to the gunnels, the water started pouring into the boat … I was just hoping that we wouldn’t totally tip over,” Ernest told the Times Colonist.

However, the boat righted itself moments later and the sea lion plunged into the water.

Mark Malleson, the boat’s operator, estimated the mammal weighed between 700 and 800 pounds.

“If that animal had landed in the boat, somebody could have gotten seriously hurt, just from the sheer size or from the teeth,” hetold CTV News.

Even after falling back into the water, the sea lion continued to chase the boaters as they headed for the shore.

Onlookers on a whale-watching boat captured the encounter in photos and videos from a little distance away.

Earlier, a viral video that showed two Steller sea lions hitching a ride on a boat, put these beasts’ often-underestimated size into perspective.