A bald eagle was nearly drowned by an octopus it was trying to eat, and had to be rescued by a group of salmon farmers following a touch-and-go tussle between the two creatures on Canada’s west coast, The Guardian reports.
The farmers were all set to return to their float house just off the northwest tip of Canada’s Vancouver Island when they heard screeching sounds in the water.
Farmers capture the 'once-in-a-lifetime' battle between an eagle and giant octopus:The group then decided to investigate further and one of them, John Ilett, came across a full-sized eagle submerged in the water with a giant octopus trying to drag it down.
The large octopus began to turn a dark red color after wounding its tentacles which were around the eagle. And the desperate eagle was floating at the surface of the water trying and failing to escape the near-death grip of the octopus.
"At first, we just watched and we didn’t know if we should interfere because, you know, it’s Mother Nature," Ilett, who works at Mowi West Canada, told CTV News.
When it became clear that the eagle was likely to drown, the crew decided to take action. So Ilett used a pike pole to drag the octopus over to the boat, and the team helped haul the two creatures aboard.
"I was able to just latch on to the octopus and give it a little tug," he continued. "It released its grip ... which gave the eagle just enough time to get to shore. "We weren't sure exactly how it was going to go down when I tested the pole."
Mahatta West farm wrote in a caption accompanying footage of the rescue on Facebook:
"Our staff at our Mahatta West farm in Quatsino rescued an eagle that had bitten off more than it could chew when it tried to catch an octopus. They are used to seeing the wonders of nature around them on a regular basis, but they knew that this was a once in a lifetime experience. The octopus swam away unharmed and the eagle recovered on a branch for around 10 minutes before it flew away."
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