2007 Photo Contest, Nature, 1st prize
Photographer

Paul Nicklen

National Geographic

24 March, 2006

Penguins will sometimes make long detours on foot if they are aware of leopard seals in the water. Once one enters the sea, others follow en masse, as a seal will generally take one chick at a time. Leopard seals 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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