#Heroic penguin escapes killer whales in nail-biting video

Penguin: 1. Killer whale: 0.

Matt Karsten, 40, and his wife Anna, 32, have captured harrowing footage of a gentoo penguin narrowly escaping the jaws of a few hungry killer whales in the Antarctic.

The Karstens were whale watching aboard a dinghy in the Gerlache Strait, near the tip of Antarctica, when they spotted a penguin hurry by their vessel — followed by a pod of killer whales just behind.

For several nail-biting minutes, tourists watched as the penguin struggled to out-swim some of the fiercest predators of the ocean, who are known to feed on the flightless birds as well as fish, seals and even sharks.

But just when anxious passengers were sure the penguin was done-for, it emerges from the water in a leap toward the dinghy and eventually helped on board in a successful escape from the orca — and a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the travelers.

“It was crazy to see in person. It was like watching a National Geographic episode on location,” Karsten, a travel writer based in Mexico’s Yucatan, told Kennedy News Agency. “I imagine the penguin was very relieved to get away.”

The Antarctic travelers were touring the icebergs when they first noticed the pod of killer whales “playing in the water beside us” which Karsten began to film.

“They swam right up to the camera and said hello,” he added. But their interest in his camera quickly ceased as they began chasing the gentoo penguin.

“Back and forth they went with the penguin swimming fast with the orcas on its trail. Eventually the poor penguin tried to jump into a nearby zodiac boat,” he said, referring to the dinghy.

The penguin’s second attempt at landing in the boat was a success, though the whales were hard-pressed to give up immediately.

“The orcas did follow the zodiac boat for a while,” said Karsten. “After cruising for a little bit, the penguin said goodbye to the boat and hopped back into the icy water,” he told Kennedy News.