Panther_99FS
Retired SOH Administrator
Watch the video.....:mixedsmi:
http://gizmodo.com/5405892/national...s&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map
http://gizmodo.com/5405892/national...s&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map
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Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.
This Might Bring A Tear To Your Eye...
- Thread starter Panther_99FS
- Start date
aircav1970
SOH-CM-2013
Sometimes the strange "bonding" between human and animal species just blows me away.....everything I had ever read about the Leopard Seals was just thrown out the window....Very cool story.
Skyhawk_310R
Charter Member
That's all well and good, and a cool story to be sure, but I think we should not lose sight to the situation entirely. Leopard seals are predators and they have attacked people, primarily because they feel threatened. Generally, predators don't like to attack prey as big as they are. They like the so-called "unfair fight," because it takes less calories to make the kill and carries a lot less risk of harm to them. Even slight wounds in nature can be fatal. Leopard seals don't attack grown men for food. Those much smaller penguins are calculated to put up much less of a fight.
The seal likely mistook the photographer for a seal and was trying to teach him how to hunt. So, the description was accurate. But, I do disagree with one thing he said. The leopard seal is not the pinnacle of the food chain in the arctic. Killer whales are the top of the food chain. Leopard seals are scared to death of killer whales and rightly so. Further, caught on land, a leopard seal is wary of polar bears even though that might be too much of a fair fight for both!
I think we should adopt the same view of this as native Americans have. Respect nature, respect the animals, but neither become overly romantic nor overly destructive. Living in harmony with nature requires neither prohibition nor suffers well exploitation. Balance is the key. Appreciate the beauty, wisely respect the danger, and above all, regard man as part of nature and not removed from it for any reason. In other words, kill and eat the animal, but respect the animal while doing it.
Ken
The seal likely mistook the photographer for a seal and was trying to teach him how to hunt. So, the description was accurate. But, I do disagree with one thing he said. The leopard seal is not the pinnacle of the food chain in the arctic. Killer whales are the top of the food chain. Leopard seals are scared to death of killer whales and rightly so. Further, caught on land, a leopard seal is wary of polar bears even though that might be too much of a fair fight for both!
I think we should adopt the same view of this as native Americans have. Respect nature, respect the animals, but neither become overly romantic nor overly destructive. Living in harmony with nature requires neither prohibition nor suffers well exploitation. Balance is the key. Appreciate the beauty, wisely respect the danger, and above all, regard man as part of nature and not removed from it for any reason. In other words, kill and eat the animal, but respect the animal while doing it.
Ken
Actually a leopard seal would never come close to a polar bear so that point is moot. They quite literally live poles apart!
Panther_99FS
Retired SOH Administrator
This is precisely what makes this photographer's story so interesting! :mixedsmi:
Skyhawk_310R
Charter Member
True indeed!
