This is the moment a sleekit seal defies the food chain and escapes from one of the ocean’s most deadly predators just as it started to attack.
The footage of the creature’s daring escape from the encroaching jaws of a killer whale was captured by James Adamson at Levenwick, Shetland.
In the video, the large fin of the orca can be seen in the distance before it disappears under the surface.
Meanwhile, the seal is nearby, seemingly unaware that it is about to become the whale’s prey.
But just as the enormous black and white hunter emerges from the water and surges towards its target, the seal ducks out of the way and darts to safety at some nearby rocks.
WATCH: The incredible moment a lucky seal escapes from killer whale in North Sea