BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, Wash. — A remarkable wildlife moment was caught on camera this week, showing an elephant seal swallowing a shark whole just off the coast of Bainbridge Island.
The video, which quickly went viral on TikTok, was captured by Vera Panescu-Reich while visiting her parents’ home. The footage shows what appears to be a dogfish shark disappearing into the jaws of the massive marine mammal.
“It was just swallowing [it] whole, and it was just an extreme nature moment that I had to immortalize,” Panescu-Reich said.
She described the encounter as surreal, saying she was stunned to witness the scene unfold just feet away.
“I was worried I might pass out and fall in the water from the shock and amazement I was feeling — and fall on top of it, and it would eat me,” she said.
The video has since racked up more than 500,000 views and over 50,000 likes on TikTok as of Friday morning.
“I can’t believe it’s real,” Panescu-Reich said. “I think I’ve watched it like a thousand times just to make sure I actually saw what I was seeing.”
While elephant seals are rare in the Puget Sound area, experts say their behavior in the video isn’t unusual.
“Elephant seals down here are pretty unusual,” said Garry Heinrich of the Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network, a group that responds to sea creature emergencies. He explained that them eating small sharks like that isn’t. They’ll also eat squid, fish and rays.
Heinrich explained that elephant seals don’t chew their food. Instead, they rely on powerful jaws and large canine teeth to swallow prey whole.
“They’ll position it so it goes down easily,” Heinrich said. “They have extremely powerful jaws.”
As for Panescu-Reich, the experience left a lasting impression.
“I’m super thankful — it touched me on a spiritual level,” she said. “I feel closer to nature now. I’m going to be keeping an eye out for that guy anytime I’m out on the water.”