Wayward seal surprises boys fishing on Montreal's South Shore in Kahnawake
Three boys out fishing on the South Shore of the Saint Lawrence River spotted a seal on Sunday morning, more than 1,000 kilometres from its natural habitat.
Roy Lahache is from the Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) community of Kahnawake, and he was out with his friends fishing in the seaway, which runs parallel to the river when what appeared to be a harbour seal surfaced behind the St. Francis Xavier Mission Catholic Church in the community.
"There was a huge bass, and then out of nowhere, I saw something poke its head out of the water," said Lahache. "When we got closer, we noticed it was a seal."
The 13-year-old and his friends fish regularly in the area and have never seen anything like this before.
The boys ran along the shoreline, following the seal for several metres, but the seal went underwater and they lost it.
"It was crazy," said Lahache. "It was super crazy."
In August, seals tend to live in the Gulf of the Saint Lawrence, past the Gaspe Peninsula and closer to the Atlantic Ocean.
The seal is one of many visitors that have found their way off course and turned up in the Montreal area.
A small hooded seal popped up in Montreal in August 2020 and a bearded seal was spotted in Laval in June of that year.
A humpback whale became a sensation in the spring of 2020 as well, and in May of this year, two minke whales were spotted in Montreal.
The three whales all died before returning to their natural habitats.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.