Eagle captures video selfie after snatching camera on Haida Gwaii
James Williams set off a series of remarkable events when he attempted to video ravens and eagle on a beach
Birdseye views don't get any more authentic than the video selfie captured by a camera-snatching eagle on Haida Gwaii six weeks ago.
Camera owner James Williams only recently recovered the footage thanks to a lucky twist of fate.
It shows eagles flocking around a pile of fish remains on a Skidegate beach before talons appear, grasping the camera and then taking off skyward, over the beach and ocean.
"I was just blown away," said Williams.
GoPro captures eagle-eyed perspective
"I had zero intentions of [the eagle] stealing my GoPro but that's the way it worked out. Now, I'm just pretty happy to have it back."
The series of events date back to June when Williams went fishing with his brother. After cleaning their catch, he put the heads and guts in a pile on the beach for ravens and eagles to feed on.
As usual, he also planted his GoPro nearby.
"This time I decided to move it just a little bit closer to hopefully get a better shot, and then I did my usual thing and walked away. Probably two or three minutes later about 30 to 50 eagles start swarming around. Then one swoops in and picks it up," he said.
"I tried a dash toward it to scare [the eagle] hoping it would drop it. But then all the other eagles jump up and I kinda lost it in the mix and it flew away."
Williams, 38, assumed the camera had been dropped in the ocean once the eagle discovered it wasn't edible.
But in a lucky twist, a house guest of his neighbour's happened to stumble across it earlier this week while walking on the beach.
The camera was muddied and cracked, but the SD card was still intact. By looking at clips, they were able to identify who it belonged to.
Williams, a member of the Haida Nation Eagle Clan and owner of Eagle Eye Cultural Tours, can't help but feel there's a little eagle magic behind the way things turned out.
"I've been wondering about that the last couple of days," he said. "In fact, I've been debating going to buy a lottery ticket with this good luck."