It sounds too weird to be true, but thanks to the phenomena of GoPro we can confirm that a kayaker was indeed pelted in the face by a seal brandishing an octopus.
A group was out at sea off Kaikoura, New Zealand, when the seal began approaching one of the party, slid out of water with the mollusc in its mouth and promptly slapped him in the face with it.
Taiyo Masuda is the 23-year-old Sydney University student who filmed the action on Saturday as part of a GoPro celebration of the launch of the new HERO7 model.
“Right around lunchtime, several seals started to swim around, we just thought they were refreshing their body, yet apparently they were seeking food,” Masuda said.
“One seal swims right next to us, having an octopus in his mouth, pops right up of the surface next to us, then tries to chew up the leg but ended up slapping our face!!”