Meanwhile in New Zealand... Caption this for your chance to earn a #GoProHERO7 Black. #GoProFamily member Bare Kiwi + Taiyo Masuda A man kayaking off the coast of New Zealand’s South Island was clobbered in the face with an airborne octopus unleashed by a seal, Yahoo7 News reports. But here’s the best part: the entire inter-species aquatic slap fight was caught on camera, so you can watch it as many times as you need to get through the day. The video shows the seal rearing up out of the water with the octopus clutched in its mouth, and then flinging it at kayaker Kyle Mulinder. Mulinder’s Instagram bio says he’s a GoPro content creator, and he told Yahoo7 News: “My face happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Fellow kayaker Taiyo Masuda, who also describes himself as part of the GoPro family, says in the video’s description that he shot the scuffle on the new GoPro Hero 7 Black. The GoPro Hero 7 line, officially announced last week, includes a new and improved image stabilization feature called Hypersmooth. “Hypersmooth makes handheld footage look like it came from a stabilized gimbal,” says Verge reporter Sean O’Kane. Even, apparently, when rocking on a kayak while your buddy is being smacked in the head by a cephalopod-wielding seal. The seal in question is a New Zealand fur seal, says Laura Boren, marine science advisor for the New Zealand Department of Conservation, in an email to The Verge. There’s a big population that lives off the coast of Kaikōura on the South Island, Boren says — which is where the octopus slap was filmed. From picking through New Zealand fur seals’ poop and puke, researchers know that they’re partial to octopus flesh. These seals aren’t shy about snacking in public, either. Last year, another kayaker in the same area spotted a seal vigorously dismembering a gigantic octopus. “The seal was shaking it like a staffy with its favourite chew toy,” local kayak guide Connor Staple told The Telegraph. That’s how the seals extract bite-sized chunks of octopus, Boren says: “Seals grab an octopus underwater and then take it to the surface where they can better thrash the octopus about to break off bits to eat.” It’s actually a pretty common sight, she says — except for one thing. “We don’t usually hear of people getting accidentally slapped from it,” she says. “It’s just unlucky or lucky timing for the kayaker who got it in the face.” Update September 26th, 2018 7:45PM ET: Updated with information from the New Zealand Department of Conservation.<doc-sep>It was a real slap in the face for a kayaker who got caught up an almighty fight between a seal and an octopus on New Zealand's South Island. Kyle Mulinder, a New Zealander, was testing out new GoPro HERO7 equipment with some fellow kayakers off the coastal town of Kaikoura. He said he saw the animals thrashing about for a while, but then he unexpectedly became part of the action. The seal suddenly threw the octopus into the air, smacking Mulinder square in the face.<doc-sep>Female orca Wikie swims with her calf born by artificial insemination on April 19, 2011 at Marineland animal exhibition park in the French Riviera city of Antibes, southeastern France. Three members from the Queensland Boating and Fisheries Marine Animal Release Team cut the whale free from shark net A screengrab from a video posted by Instagrammer Taiyo Masuda shows a seal slapping his friend, Kyle Mulinder, in the face with an octopus. (CNN) — Well, that was a slap in the face. An Instagram user has uploaded video that shows a seal swimming up from the depths, armed with an octopus, which it flings across the face of an unsuspecting kayaker. Geo-tagged off the coast of Kaikoura on New Zealand’s South Island, paddler Kyle Mulinder, along with a number of other kayakers, is seen on the footage watching a seal swim underwater, hunting the octopus. As they chat about the seal, it can be seen surfacing next to Mulinder’s kayak, before launching out of the water, prey in mouth, to deliver an almighty slap to the Kiwi. Mulinder is momentarily taken aback by the attack before shouting out in surprise. His friend, Taiyo Masuda, told CNN it was a “beautiful day (and) seals were swimming and enjoying sun on the rocks. “Right around lunchtime, several seals started to swim around. We just thought they were refreshing their body, yet apparently they were seeking more of food. “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! “We instantly started laughing, we certainly got surprised. We are all adventure guys but we don’t encounter that every day! Such a raw moment, brought us so much laughter to all of us all day long… What a day to remember!” The octopus stuck around – literally – suctioning onto the bottom of Mulinder’s kayak until it was prized off by a fellow kayaker’s oar. It then disappeared underwater. ’Mate, what happened?’ “I was like ‘mate, what just happened?’ It was weird because it happened so fast but I could feel all the hard parts of the octopus on my face like ‘dum dum dum’,” Mulinder told CNN affiliate Seven News Australia. Mulinder and Masuda, who were sharing the two-man kayak, both posted the incredible footage to Instagram. “I’m not sure who got more of a surprise – the seal, the octopus or me,” the caption on Mulinder’s post reads. Masuda posted: “(Mulinder) getting octopus smashed into his face by a seal? …(most) amazing kayak ever!” The seal reappears around the flotilla of kayaks a couple more times before disappearing back into the depths, possibly to rearm with another cephalopod and go back on the offensive. Both Mulinder and Masuda identify themselves as affiliated with action camera maker GoPro, and some of the video posted was cut into a slick production, branded with the camera’s logo. They said they were testing the maker’s latest model when the incident occurred. The video caused a sensation on social media, with users comparing themselves to the hapless octopus, the seal or to Mulinder – or all three. Political commentator Kelly Cohen said that the surprise, wet slap reminded her of the unforgiving news cycle. “I’m the kayaker, the octopus is the news cycle,” she tweeted. i’m the kayaker, the octopus is the news cycle https://t.co/2re5oG3any — kelly cohen (@ByKellyCohen) September 26, 2018 Australian writer Erin Riley summed up the mood. “Sometimes you’re the seal. Sometimes you’re the kayaker. And sometimes, you’re the octopus.”<doc-sep>A filmmaker testing out a newly launched camera during a kayaking trip captured an incredible sight: a seal slapping a fellow adventurer with a live octopus. Taiyo Masuda, 23, says he was on a GoPro-funded kayaking trip off the coast of New Zealand on Sept. 22 when he shot the now-viral video. It happened in an instant: A seal surfaces near a kayaker, octopus in tow. The seal whips its head, smacking the boater with the mollusc. The man is left stunned. Yahoo7 reports that man was Kyle Mulinder, and he told the publication he was just as stunned as he looked in the video: “I was like, 'mate, what just happened? '” There is an explanation, according to Rochelle Constantine, an associate professor at School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland. It's not a pleasant one. The seal was not intentionally trying to slap Mulinder in Constantine's view. The man was likely just in the way. Instead, the seal was probably trying to rip the octopus' tentacle off with the force of the throw, she said in an email. "I have seen seals doing this before, it's not an unusual sight but normally there isn't a person in the way," she wrote. "Often we see (seals) swallowing the tentacle at the surface like a large strand of spaghetti." Sept. 23:Viral photo shows boys working together to take down American flag The seals often repeat the action multiple times, ripping off one tentacle at a time. Then Constantine believes the seals eat the rest of the body. "It's a good meal, especially when they get a large octopus as shown in this footage," she wrote. Morbid explanation aside, the video has prompted a lot of laughter, starting with Masuda and Mulinder. "We instantly started laughing so (hard), we were talking about this all week," Masuda wrote to USA TODAY in an email. He says the trip was a part of a launch event for the GoPro HERO7 camera. GoPro has shared the video on social media, where it's been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.<doc-sep>
A kayaker relaxing in the waters surrounding New Zealand’s South Island has captured a strange and unexpected encounter with local sea life. Kyle Mulinder was paddling off the coast of Kaikōura when a seal emerged from the water and slapped him across the face with a large octopus. Mr Mulinder and his friends had been watching a group of seals beneath the surface, and spotted one of the larger males wrestling with an octopus. The slippery mammal popped up with the eight-limbed mollusc trapped in its jaws and whipped it towards the unsuspecting kayaker. “I was like, “Mate, what just happened?”” Mr Mulinder told the Seven News network in Australia. “It was weird because it happened so fast but I could feel all the hard parts of the octopus on my face.” “I’m not sure who got more of a surprise - the seal, the octopus or me,” he added. The octopus managed to survive its confrontation with man and seal, suctioning onto the underside of Mr Mulinder’s kayak before it was detached with an oar. It then drifted back underwater. Mr Mulinder, who works for GoPro, had a camera attached to his watercraft. He and his friend Taiyo Masuda – who was also filming – both shared the moment on Instagram. “We instantly started laughing, we certainly got surprised,” Mr Masuda told CNN. “We are all adventure guys but we don’t encounter that every day. Such a raw moment brought us so much laughter to all of us all day long. What a day to remember.” Seals’ main diet is comprised of fish, but they are known to eat larger creatures such as squid and octopus. Rochelle Constantine, associate professor at the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland, said it was possible the seal in the video was only trying to rip off a tentacle and did not intend to hit Mr Mulinder in the face.