In today’s featured video, National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen calmly describes his underwater encounter with a massive leopard seal in the Antarctic.
I guess Nicklen was not so calm at the time, as he tells in his narration, but he stayed in place and kept shooting as the leopard seal made moves toward him that could be interpreted in various ways. Nicklen, who has plenty of experience around wild animals, said the seal acted aggressive at first but later tried to make a connection, perhaps by offering the diver a penguin to eat.
Nicklen, who has been working in the polar regions for 17 years, had a “unique childhood among the Intuit in Canada’s Arctic,” according to his bio. He has shot some amazing and exciting scenes, and I’m an admirer of his images of the spirit bear, which is another unique story. See the spirit bear photos on his webpage, and check out the National Geographic story by Bainbridge Island writer Bruce Barcott. Nicklen lives on Vancouver Island.
As for leopard seals, they are pretty amazing creatures, though not always amusing. Take a look at this series of videos by BBC Nature. You can also swim with a leopard seal via a “crittercam” in this National Geographic video, which features the work of biologist Tracey Rogers. (The crittercam part starts about halfway through.)
Another crittercam captures the movements of an Australian sea lion as it hunts for and eventually eats an octopus. The National Geographic footage is from a project designed to figure out what the sea lions are eating. Australian sea lions were once hunted to near-extinction but are now protected by the Australian government.
