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Amazing Viral Photo of Penguin About to Be Eaten by a Leopard Seal
the daily dish
Many look upon seals as sweet and innocent creatures, but just like any other critter in the world, seals are wild animals with an appetite. According to ABC News, one unlucky penguin met up with a starving seal, leading to the bird's fate and a set of incredible photos.
A photographer managed to capture the amazing and terrifying moment a leopard seal caught its penguin prey. The photos show the bird trying to escape, but it is no match for the seal's speed and strength.
The pictures were taken in Port Lockroy, part of the British Antarctic territory and home to several penguin colonies. Leopard seals also lurk here, lying motionless in the shallow water waiting for young penguins to waddle out. Once the marine mammal has ambushed the penguin, it drags the bird into deeper water for consumption.
"The leopard seal gets into the shallow bay just before low tide and pretends to be a rock, placing its head in the water," Amos Nachoum, 63, who took these captivating photos, told the Daily Mail U.K.
"When the young penguins get too close, the leopard snaps with lightning speed, catching a penguin, and in one smooth motion returns back to the deep water and proceeds to the drowning process."
While it may seem cruel to some animal lovers, this is just another example of the world's detailed circle of life in motion.
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Amos Nachoun/Barcroft Media /Landov1 of 3
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Amos Nachoun/Barcroft Media /Landov2 of 3
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Amos Nachoun/Barcroft Media /Landov3 of 3
A photographer managed to capture the amazing and terrifying moment a leopard seal caught its penguin prey. The photos show the bird trying to escape, but it is no match for the seal's speed and strength.
The pictures were taken in Port Lockroy, part of the British Antarctic territory and home to several penguin colonies. Leopard seals also lurk here, lying motionless in the shallow water waiting for young penguins to waddle out. Once the marine mammal has ambushed the penguin, it drags the bird into deeper water for consumption.
"The leopard seal gets into the shallow bay just before low tide and pretends to be a rock, placing its head in the water," Amos Nachoum, 63, who took these captivating photos, told the Daily Mail U.K.
"When the young penguins get too close, the leopard snaps with lightning speed, catching a penguin, and in one smooth motion returns back to the deep water and proceeds to the drowning process."
While it may seem cruel to some animal lovers, this is just another example of the world's detailed circle of life in motion.
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39 Comments
I bet that penguin is on prozac, he can see the danger recognize it but somehow completely miss the most important part, getting out of the way. Had the exact same effect on me.
March 21 2013 at 4:48 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWhen large critters with cute faces get hungry they eat small critters with cute faces. It's nature.
January 28 2013 at 10:58 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI think I remember a diver saying they are very scary and aggressive.
January 28 2013 at 9:56 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replywhere's the pic???
January 28 2013 at 9:23 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIf you look closely, the penguin doesn't even look alive. It could have been dead by other causes.
January 28 2013 at 9:06 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyPeople I have seen on the world animal channel , that seal not going to really eat the penguin . What the seal has found is better way to catch fish , let the penguin swim to deep waters to catch the fish to feed their off spring . The penguins have to make it back to the ice to feed the baby penguins the fish they inside their body . The seal will catch the penguins and tear them open and eat all of their fish that spills out of them . They won't really eat the penguins or their insides .
January 28 2013 at 7:42 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWhat about the other two pictures where the seal is actually eating the penguin? Leopard seals are the second largest seal behind the elephant seal; those size proportions are correct and Orcas and sharks are the only true predators of Leopard seals. The are second only to the Orca or killer whale in the ranking of predator in the southern oceans. Penguins, fish other seals krill and crab are the main sources of food. They can be any where from 8 to 11 feet and way close to 1300 pounds. The girls seals tend to be larger then the males.
January 28 2013 at 8:36 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyOh, my, an animal hunting for food! Don't you think that is what the Creator had in mind? And if you don't believe in a Higher Power, then respect an animal for doing its job.
January 28 2013 at 6:54 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyMaybe it isn't dead, the first picture shows the penguin facing the seal looking down his throat, the other two pictures show the penguin caught, tail end first. How did it get turned around if it is dead, unless it is two different penguins, at two different times
January 28 2013 at 6:54 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replythis is definitively a "oh s..t moment!
January 28 2013 at 6:48 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI know that animals have to eat but it still makes me feel like crap when I see it! The older I get the more I hate to see the circle of life, that will be me someday.
January 28 2013 at 6:47 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI know exactly how you feel. Twenty or so years ago, I took my children into a pet shop to buy a mouse for a science class project (the care and feeding of a pet). We got there when the owner was feeding pinkies (baby mice) to snakes. (Why he didn't feed them after the store closed will forever be a mystery to me.) My daughter burst into tears; my son begged me to save the poor, baby mice. I offered to buy every mouse in the store, if the owner would just not feed the snakes while we were there. No dice. I hurried my children out of the place and we never went back there to purchase anything ever again.
January 28 2013 at 7:46 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply