I’m partial to a bit of seafood to the face, but this is a little fresh for my liking.

Kayakers often get up close and personal with nature (a massive whale breach and a close encounter with a shark spring to mind), but I haven’t seen a video like this one from New Zealand’s South Island before.

The kayaker, Kyle Mulinder, said “My face happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time”, but I’m happy with how things played out.

The exact moment was captured using a GoPro:

Everyone seems to have emerged unscathed, minus the octopus.

More info via The Verge:

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.

That’s evident from another video, shot last year, showing a seal chomping on an octopus. You’ll see the seal fling the octopus around the 1:10 mark:

Anybody else have a sushi craving? Please, don’t get Seth started.

[source:verge]