Killer whale whips sea lion through the air

A brutish killer whale has effortlessly tossed a sea lion metres into the air in a terrifying display of playing with its food caught on film in Alaska.

The sea lion hid under the boat of a fishing trawler for several minutes as it was stalked by the huge predator off the coast of Ketchikan last week.

But as the crew decided to leave the area, the small seal became an easy prey for the whale.

Those filming on board the boat screamed in shock as the killer propelled to the surface and used its powerful tail to toss the seal through the air like a rag doll.

"You got that on video? You got that?" one startled woman exclaims.

The footage, captured by local trawler company Anglers Adventures, was taken on August 15 and uploaded online.

It is not known what happened to the seal after the attack.