A pod of transient orcas stunned a boat full of people off the coast of Victoria as the whales hunted a seal just metres away from the vessel.

The pod appeared to be showing its young how to hunt, according to a video submitted by CTV viewer Riley Sharko.

Sharko was out boating with friends Friday when the pod popped up right next to them in the water.

When the group saw a seal swimming for its life in the middle of the pod, they knew what was happening.

"That's one of the seals from the marina," one man is overheard saying.

"They're trying to tire him out!"

The seal starts to swim toward the boat when one of the orcas swims up behind it and snatches it in its jaws.

The experience was an unforgettable one for Sharko and her friends.

"I was incredibly stoked to have these beautiful mammals surprise us with their presence off the coast of Victoria, but I'm not sure I can say the same for some of my friends," she wrote on YouTube.

Transient or Bigg's killer whales differ from the endangered southern resident orcas in that they silently stalk and eat small mammals like seals, while southern residents use echolocation to hunt for fish.