Pinnepeds, or seals, were unexpectedly a large part of the trip. Actually, everything on this trip was unexpected. If I remember correctly there are over 20 species of seals in the world. We spotted several types of seals throughout the trip:
Admittedly I had a tough time identifying the differences between some of the seals we saw while kayaking or while on land, but I will certainly always be able to identify the Southern Elephant Seal and the Leopard Seal as we had particularly memorable experiences with both! Clearly I was not paying close enough attention during our seal class but hopefully I'll correctly identify the seals in the photos we took during the trip. I plan to do a couple more posts on seals to get into more detail about some of our experiences. For now here is some GoPro footage and some photos taken by me and others.
Some GoPro footage of our encounters with seals:
A short clip of a seal sneaking under my kayak. This took place on our first excursion- I was so thankful to have had the GoPro strapped to my head so I could capture this!
I think this is a Fur Seal that was particularly sassy at Deceptions Island. I have several clips of this particular seal chasing after passengers. The worst thing you can do when a seal is chasing you is to run and we all seemed to forget this outside of the classroom.
The Leopard Seal poking our kayaks. We had no idea this happened until the last day of the trip when the staff put together their own GoPro footage.
We witnessed a Leopard Seal catch and kill a penguin on a morning excursion. It took place within a few feet of our kayaks and zodiacs. It was difficult to watch the penguin go, but it was one of those things that makes you realize how amazing nature is.
This is a male Southern Elephant Seal that seriously seemed to stare into my soul. I don't think I took this closeup shot, but I'll be posting more on the day we encountered a pile of about 50 male Elephant Seals in a mud bath pile-up that typically takes place during molting.
A seal resting on a small iceberg. I can't remember if I took this from my kayak or from the ship.
Another seal perched on an iceberg. I think this is a Fur Seal and I'm sure it's fairly obvious to someone else- hopefully someone from the trip will help me out here : )
A Leopard Seal captured by another passenger.
Another great photo captured by someone else on the trip. This is, I believe, a Crabeater Seal who appears to have just finished a meal.
A Weddell Seal appears to be posing as we cruised by on the zodiacs and kayaks. Another passenger captured this photo.
This is a sassy Fur Seal we encountered at Deception Island. Photo also captured by another passenger.
I think this is an Elephant Seal calf we spotted on the beach at Hannah Point.
No comments:
Post a Comment