Do marine predators hunt or fish?

As an example, which is correct: "The seal hunted the fish" or "The seal fished the fish"?

What about marine birds, do they hunt or fish?

Solution 1:

The relevant meaning of "Fish" is attempt to catch fish [M-W]. That's technically applicable, but doesn't quite capture the survival nature of the process for the predator. There are also aquatic animals other than fish that get eaten.

The relevant definition for "hunt" is to pursue for food. It isn't limited to doing it on land.

All of the documentaries I've ever seen that touch on the subject refer to aquatic animals "hunting". However, they usually refer to what marine birds do as "fishing". For that matter, when bears catch fish, they also call it "fishing".

It isn't clear what the basis originally was for selecting which term to use. Just speculation: "hunt" seems to be used when the activity is in the predator's own natural environment, while "fish" is used when a non-aquatic animal does it. That would make sense since the only way the predator can pursue it's prey is if they're both in the same environment. Otherwise, it's more of an opportunistic endeavor.