A desperate but brave penguin has been photographed escaping a pod of killer whales by jumping onto a boat full of tourists.
The terrified bird was being chased by orcas in Antarctica's Gerlache Strait and was seen repeatedly jumping out of the water as rafts of tourists watched the scene unfold.
Travel writer Matt Karsten, 40, and his wife Anna, 32, were filming the penguin when it tried to jump onto one of the boats before jumping back. The bird then made a second attempt and managed to stop on the side of the raft.
Matt said: “It was crazy to see this in person. It would be like watching a National Geographic documentary on life. I believe that the penguin was very relieved that he managed to escape".
The couple were sailing between icebergs when they spotted a large herd of orcas in the water, which then began chasing the gentoo penguin, trying to kill it to eat it.
"The penguin managed to get on the boat on the second try and then we immediately left the place," Matt says, then jokingly added that even orcas might try to jump on the boat.
“The orcas continued to follow our boat for a little while longer. They didn't give up easily but finally left the penguin with his new friends. After swimming for a while in the boat, even the penguin said goodbye by jumping into the icy water." /tch/
