I was hunted by wolves today while sailing home with a boat load of ore, just like Werric, the original poster.

Also like Werric, I blithely sailed on without pausing to see if wolves did spawn at sea, if I could kill them in the water, and if so, wether or not their drops floated.

I did, however, frequently check the map to see if the red event/raid circle was still there after I departed. It was for about three minutes, then it disappeared.

I know that if one gets "A foul odor from the swamp..." on land, the raid/event timer will be suspended if one leaves the red circle and will not restart until one reenters the red circle.

So now the burning question is: Did the disappearance of the red circle after I left it occur because the raid/event happened at sea or does the "You are being hunted..." event not get suspended when one leaves its red circle?