Photographer Paul Nicklen was hesitant about getting in the water with leopard seals in Antarctica as they are fearsome predators, but instead of being threatened by him, the seal adopted him: "I slipped into the water, terrified of what might...

Dem regelmäßigen Leser dieses Blogs ist freilich bekannt, dass dies der weltweit führende Raubtierblog ist und Pflichtblatt für National-Geographic-Fotografen, die gefräßigen Seeleoparden begegnen.Dieser – oftmals als monothematisch belächelten – Berufung eingedenk erlaubt sich der Autor, seines Zeichens Träger des goldenen Ehrenzeichens der deutschen Gesellschaft zur Volksaufklärung in Fragen der Nahrungskette, auf dieses beeindruckende Bilddokument hinzuweisen, [...]

So incredible – I just had to post this!

Paul Nicklen describes his most amazing experience as a National Geographic photographer - coming face-to-face with one of the arctic's most vicious predators.

National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen is one lucky man. Not only did he get to swim and take photos of a 12-foot leopard seal in the Antarctic (and didn’t get eaten), he was actually “adopted” by it!I slipped into the water, terrified of what might happen, and I swam up to this leopard seal. My legs were shaking and I had dry mouth. Right away she dropped the penguin. She came up to me and she opened her mouth … and her head is twice as wide as a grizzly bear’s head. She’s huge. She took my whole head and my camera inside her head and did this threat display.But then the most remarkable thing happen. She went off and got me a live penguin. She came up and she started to feed me a penguin. She kept letting these live penguins go and the penguin would shoot past me and she’d look disgusted as she go by me. She did this over and over.And then I think she realized that I was this useless predator in her ocean, probably going to starve to death and I think she became quite panicked and she got me weak penguins then dead penguins … Hit play or go to Link (via How NatGeo Photographer Paul Nicklen Got “Adopted” By a Deadly Antarctica Predator - Neatorama)

SourceIf someone could train one to do it on command, the Labrador would be out of business fast.Of course, someone has to figure out how to care for a huge  predatory seal that lives by killing penguins and other seals.In the Arctic, the polar bear fills this niche.In Antarctica, the seal becomes the polar bear. [...]