2007 Photo Contest, Nature, 1st prize
Photographer

Paul Nicklen

National Geographic

28 February, 2006

Leopard seals are the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic. Their reputation for ferocity grew in 2003, when a leopard seal attacked and killed a British scientist, Kirsty Brown. The seals are certainly the top predators of Antarctic waters, but may not always be as aggressive as believed.

About the photographer

Paul Nicklen

As a young boy, Paul Nicklen, a Canadian-born polar specialist and marine biologist, moved to Baffin Island and spent his childhood among the Inuit people. From them he learned t...

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