Last weekend we stayed at Walker Creek settlement and on Sunday drove to a sandy beach called Seal Cove. From there Simon and I walked along the rocky coast and were surprised and delighted to find this young leopard seal resting on the rocks.
These are the rarest seals here and this is the first one we have seen - I had almost given up hope of seeing one.
It had probably swum up from Antarctica or South Georgia and was exhausted hence we were able to get quite close to it.
They can be very fierce and in the past have tended to be shot when found on beaches. Their hides were prized by makers of horse gear
They have a sinister, rather reptilian shaped head and enormous mouth and sharp teeth.
A female research diver was killed by one a few years ago in Antartica.
No comments:
Post a Comment