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Killer Whales Attack Sea Lions Near Prince Rupert (VIDEO)

WATCH: Killer Whales Attack Sea Lions

Sea lions swam for their lives as a pod of killer whales chased them on B.C.'s North Coast in a new video uploaded to YouTube.

The footage, posted by Travis Twizell, was shot on Wednesday near Prince Rupert and shows the sea lions trying to use a boat as protection from their mammal hunters. But in the end, it appears the whales succeed in killing at least one of their prey.

CBC News reports that there are at least three different groups of killer whales on the West Coast, according to scientists:

  • Resident orcas who eat salmon, live in larger groups, and travel over small distances.
  • Biggs orcas, or transients, who hunt marine mammals, live in smaller groups, travel greater distances.
  • Offshore orcas, who are thought to eat fish and sharks, and live 15 kilometres or more from shore.

The Prince Rupert video is the latest in a string of dramatic whale encounters in B.C. over the past two weeks.

Earlier this month, a pod of orcas were spotted chasing dolphins in Squamish. Then, pods of Pacific white-sided dolphins surprised people in Vancouver's English Bay.

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