WATCH: Killer whale abandons 'attack' on surfer at last minute
A killer whale hunting its next meal has been captured on video targeting a surfer during a competition in northern Norway.
The Norwegian Orca Survey believes the pod had mistaken the surfer for a seal during the close encounter which was captured on video at the Lofoten Masters 2017.
Eve Jourdain from the Norwegian Orca Survey told 7 News Online, "There is no doubt that, on the footage online, the orca is speeding up with low profile (dorsal fin not visible) to attack the surfer, most likely seen/heard as a seal by the orca in a first place."
"But orcas tend to be quite specialised on certain prey items and I would assume that when the whale realises that the prey is NOT a seal, it turns away from it."
Ms Jourdain said all three whales are then seen leaving the spot instantly.
The researcher has told 7 News Online the surfer being targetted was "indeed lucky".
"In our study area at least, orcas do not normally swim three metres away from the beach if it is not to hunt," Ms Jourdain said.
In the footage the fins of the killer whales can be seen approaching the group of surfers, before one competitor in a red rashie puts their arms in the air after one passes him.
The man then turns around and surfs the short distance back to the shore, while two other competitors nearby remain in the water.
"The surfer reported that the charging orca was not more than 50cm away from him," the Norwegian Orca Survey wrote on Facebook.
A publication called NRK Nordland claims one of the surfers in the water was American Shannon Ainslie.
According to a translation of the online report Mr Ainslie said, "I saw it in the last second, I saw all the water that came against me. I saw the movement in the water and discovered something big and black that came against me, I did not quite understand what it was before it passed. "
