A kayaker paddling off the coast of Kaikōura has had his extraordinary encounter with marine life captured on camera - and he certainly got a lot more than he bargained for.
Kyle Mulinder was off the coast of the South Island with friends over the weekend when his group came across a scrapping seal and an octopus.
"We were just sitting out in the middle of the ocean and then this huge male seal appeared with an octopus and he was thrashing him about for ages," Mr Mulinder told 7 News.
Mr Mulinder was in a prime spot for the fight as he edged closer to his boat until suddenly he was fully submerged in the action.
The large seal threw the octopus at the Kiwi's kayak, smacking him in the face with the mollusc in the process.
"He thrashed it in mid fight and my face happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said.
The moment was caught on GoPro by his friends, who happened to be testing the company's latest model at the time.
"I was like, ‘Mate, what just happened?’ It was weird because it happened so fast but I could feel all the hard parts of the octopus on my face."
SHARE ME