Video footage of four seals being washed away at the King Range National Conservation Area in Southern Humboldt went viral this morning, after being posted on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services page yesterday.

Seventeen to Twenty-foot breakers did hit the Humboldt coast yesterday. However, the photographer of the video told the Outpost that it was filmed last spring.

Robert Wick, who works as a Wilderness Program Manager with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, said he filmed the video in May or June of last year. 

“The BLM posted it last year right after I took it, but in the social media world things get picked up and reposted by others, sometimes at a later date,” Wick said. “One just doesn’t know what is going to go viral or not.”

Wick works out of the Sacramento area, but shot the footage while assisting with a project at the King Range land management office.

“I always have my camera with me. I do photography photography for BLM as one of my duties,” he said. “I was just shooting at the Seal Rock Picnic Area after working one evening.”

A photo of yesterday’s high surf. By Tyler Whiteside.