The Southern Ocean has few land predators. Instead, sea birds have to worry about giant petrels and skuas raiding their nests from the air and orcas and seals ambushing them in the water. Of all the animals found in Antarctica, the one I most hoped to see was the leopard seal. These 14-foot-long predators ambush penguins in the shallows near their colonies.
After a morning of photography on South Georgia Island, we climbed into our zodiac to head back to the expedition ship Ortelius. Suddenly, the radio squawked. One of the guides had found a leopard seal hunting a penguin. Game on!
♔♔♔
We raced to meet up with the guide and quickly saw the injured king penguin paddling on the surface with a looming shape in pursuit. The seal dispatched the penguin quickly by rag-dolling the enormous bird in the water. It was brutal but efficient. Surprisingly, the seal left most of the remains for the petrels.
King penguins stick together in big groups while making the dangerous trek across the shallows to the safety of deeper water. They were on high alert the entire time, nearly panicked as they splashed across the surface of the water. No wonder. They knew a monster was lurking nearby.
The leopard seal finished its meal off the stern of our expedition ship Ortelius.
This was one of the most brutal hunting displays I have ever witnessed, but it was over quickly. The poor king penguin did not suffer long. And I was extremely happy to have found the one animal I had most hoped to see. This was my favorite wildlife encounter of 2022.
No comments:
Post a Comment