Sometimes leopard seals can be very curious and friendly. Check out this video of a Lep following Jen and Kristen into the parking lot as they finish up a day of counting penguins. Enjoy !
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About Me
- Louise Hamlin
- Palmer station, Anvers Island, Antarctica
- Drawn to this poetically beautiful but rapidly warming part of the world, I am taking a leave of absence from my usual job at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to work for the US Antarctic Program. My blog records my observations about antarctic science and my daily life. My jobs here are the research associate, ocean search & rescue team member and fire marshal. I welcome question and interaction so please feel free to contact me or just follow along !
17 comments:
Love your concept of a "parking lot". It looks as if that seal is about as big as the boat.
Hey there Louise. Just thinking about you way back in the cold country of Boulder. We just had the most impressive cold spell. Cold enough that stepping outside hurt to breathe initially, and I had my first frozen nose hairs!
Anyway, it sounds like things are going really well. And it almost makes me want to go down there!
Have fun, and keep the posts coming!
I wonder if the seal was thinking that if he/she followed them long enough they'd toss it something to eat.
But maybe I've been hanging around the guinea pigs too long.
Louise- I thought of you the other day, mountain biking at the crack of dawn there next to JPL. We are experiencing extreem cold here in southern California too! Well not exactly Antarctica cold...with iceburgs and everything. Maybe not even Colorado cold...with frozen nose hairs, but I swear to god, as we we were breathing, it looked like smoke coming out!
--Jay
Say Hello to Wendy Beeler please
And Happy Holidays to you!
This made me think of a Mountain Lion following someone into the parking lot in front of King Soopers. Hey got any tasty Penguin morsels for me?
Hey Louise, great video. I knew Leopard Seals were big but seeing one next to a zodiac for scale is sobering! They look comparable in length to Steller's sea lions (really big critters). Looks like this one actually "spy-hopped" for a better look at the end! Very cool. Merry Xmas! Riley
Louise, I've been enjoying your posts, photos, and video clips. It's about time I thank you for them. The only bit of news I have that's in keeping with other comments here would be about the warm weather. May have gotten up to 70 in Bloomington on Saturday! Guess you already had a "white Christmas" so I'll wish you a Happy New Year!
Louise,
One of my crew, Pepe, wants to know if the seal would eat one of the birders if they fell in. The crew is divided between those that say it won't & those that say it will.
Thanks!
JH
Hi Jeannie ! It' really nice to hear from you and know that you are enjoying the images. Thanks for the nice comments you made on my web albums :)
Hi JH !
That's an interesting question. Leopard seals have been known to kill people. A researcher at the British base was killed while snorkeling a few years ago but there are also instances in which leopards have befriended divers. I would say that everyone here is at least a little scared of the lep. We wouldn't want to get in the water with one !
Hi Riley, John, Stephen and Tim !
It's really nice to hear from you guys. I miss Kepler a lot and get news from Roberta as frequently as I can. Hope the move to the launch site went well. I wish I were going to be there to see her go up ! :) Go Kepler !!
Jay - are you in for Yukon River Quest 2009 ? I still need a race partner. Enjoy California for me !
THanks for the note on the Lep. Next question, this one from Jesus Q, is "what do penguins taste like"?. See, it's not only me. (grin)
JH
I'm going to miss seeing new photos each month, but not as much as you'll miss Palmer Station:-(
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