Sea Leopards Hunting Penguins
August 7, 2007 3:29 PM Subscribe
Awesome National Geographic photoset of a group of Sea Leopards hunting penguins. Less awesome if you are rooting for the penguins.
This post was deleted for the following reason: RAWR double post chomp chomp -- jessamyn
This efficient killing machine prizes above all else penguin stomachs stuffed with krill.
Would you like some freshly ground black pepper with your stuffed penguin stomach this evening?
(poor penguins! but also - yay seals!)
posted by rtha at 3:35 PM on August 7, 2007
Would you like some freshly ground black pepper with your stuffed penguin stomach this evening?
(poor penguins! but also - yay seals!)
posted by rtha at 3:35 PM on August 7, 2007
Fantastic photos. Their teeth look positively canine. I wonder where they branched off from land-lubbing creatures in the evolutionary chain?
posted by Devils Rancher at 3:41 PM on August 7, 2007
posted by Devils Rancher at 3:41 PM on August 7, 2007
Did you see when the leopard seal spooked the penguins in that one episode of The Blue Planet? That was amazing footage, and I say this as a person who always roots for the penguins.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 3:42 PM on August 7, 2007
posted by soundofsuburbia at 3:42 PM on August 7, 2007
bshort, I actually did mean sea-leopards, a nod to the story. Not that it matters, dilettante is correct - these same photos show up (at the photographer's url, not under the national geographic link) in a previous post, making this a double.
posted by jonson at 3:46 PM on August 7, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by jonson at 3:46 PM on August 7, 2007 [1 favorite]
Isn't this when some special interest group is supposed to weigh in saying we have to stop this outrageous slaughter of so many poor defenseless penguins or does that only happen when human beings club the seals?
posted by ZachsMind at 3:49 PM on August 7, 2007
posted by ZachsMind at 3:49 PM on August 7, 2007
*clutches stuffed* Opus and weeps copiously*
* (krill content unknown)
posted by maudlin at 3:51 PM on August 7, 2007
* (krill content unknown)
posted by maudlin at 3:51 PM on August 7, 2007
That photographer was Sooooo into that female. He reckoned she fancied him.
I'm not saying she didn't though.
posted by Sk4n at 3:51 PM on August 7, 2007
I'm not saying she didn't though.
posted by Sk4n at 3:51 PM on August 7, 2007
I've just sent this image around to everyone I know who's stupid or misguided enough to use Gentoo, with the caption "Gentoo pwnz0rd".
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 4:02 PM on August 7, 2007
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 4:02 PM on August 7, 2007
#10 is just insane. At least they don't appear to suffer for very long-chomp!
posted by snsranch at 4:02 PM on August 7, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by snsranch at 4:02 PM on August 7, 2007 [1 favorite]
Why the big teeth? All the better to rip your fucking head off with, my dear.
Great photos. Seals and otters are amazing things to watch in their native habitat.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 4:16 PM on August 7, 2007
Great photos. Seals and otters are amazing things to watch in their native habitat.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 4:16 PM on August 7, 2007
Some of these were in the print magazine not too long ago, although I think they left out the more bloody ones. For the kids, I'm guessing.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 4:24 PM on August 7, 2007
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 4:24 PM on August 7, 2007
Did anyone else soil the innocence of childhood by allowing their children to see Happy Feet? The seal scene in that movie made me poop my pull up.
posted by Toekneesan at 4:33 PM on August 7, 2007
posted by Toekneesan at 4:33 PM on August 7, 2007
Cyrano : Being prey must suck.
*Slathers Cyrano with BBQ sauce, kicks him in front of pride of lions*
*waits*
posted by quin at 4:41 PM on August 7, 2007
*Slathers Cyrano with BBQ sauce, kicks him in front of pride of lions*
*waits*
posted by quin at 4:41 PM on August 7, 2007
Yeah, that'll show him that being prey doesn't suck...
posted by Tikirific at 4:47 PM on August 7, 2007
posted by Tikirific at 4:47 PM on August 7, 2007
...and if those photos make want to watch a sea lion get its' comeuppance...
posted by horsemuth at 4:48 PM on August 7, 2007
posted by horsemuth at 4:48 PM on August 7, 2007
#10 is just insane. At least they don't appear to suffer for very long-chomp!
From #16:
A young leopard seal plays with its food, a gentoo penguin. The 1,000-pound (450 kilograms) creatures "are not empathetic," says photographer Paul Nicklen, who spent three weeks swimming with the seals. "Killing seems as much about fun and games as it does about eating." Nicklen observed leopard seals prolonging their prey's death for over an hour by shaking the animal, dropping it, and snapping it back up again. Sometimes the penguin would die not from its wounds, but rather from the shock or stress of the chase.
Yeah....
posted by the other side at 4:49 PM on August 7, 2007
From #16:
A young leopard seal plays with its food, a gentoo penguin. The 1,000-pound (450 kilograms) creatures "are not empathetic," says photographer Paul Nicklen, who spent three weeks swimming with the seals. "Killing seems as much about fun and games as it does about eating." Nicklen observed leopard seals prolonging their prey's death for over an hour by shaking the animal, dropping it, and snapping it back up again. Sometimes the penguin would die not from its wounds, but rather from the shock or stress of the chase.
Yeah....
posted by the other side at 4:49 PM on August 7, 2007
This is why I'm glad I have a subscription to National Geographic.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 4:53 PM on August 7, 2007
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 4:53 PM on August 7, 2007
That photo #10 seems like it was taken for the express purpose of replacing girlfriends' previous desktop backgrounds.
Yum.
posted by GooseOnTheLoose at 4:58 PM on August 7, 2007
Yum.
posted by GooseOnTheLoose at 4:58 PM on August 7, 2007
Or you can skip to the money shot.
I imagine an enterprising person can put the words "Hunt or be hunted" on there and sell them to corporate execs as in-office motivational posters.
posted by damn dirty ape at 5:00 PM on August 7, 2007
I imagine an enterprising person can put the words "Hunt or be hunted" on there and sell them to corporate execs as in-office motivational posters.
posted by damn dirty ape at 5:00 PM on August 7, 2007
That death-shake is something else (i.e., photo #10). I wonder if there's already a band named Death Shake? That picture could go on the bass drum. A live penguin could be sacrificed each night on stage. Okay, no one on the internet steal my idea, please. Thanks.
posted by synaesthetichaze at 5:04 PM on August 7, 2007
posted by synaesthetichaze at 5:04 PM on August 7, 2007
Is such levels of anthropomorphism common in essays like this? How can I tell if the penguin really was "wary" or if the author just thought so?
posted by metaldark at 5:05 PM on August 7, 2007
posted by metaldark at 5:05 PM on August 7, 2007
Breaking Headline: Goodbye, Clippy; Meet "Leppy"
... three months later, National Geographic receives a large donation from Microsoft after they outbid the FreeBSD Consortium for use of the photo #10 in a marketing campaign for the new company mascot, a leopard seal.
" ... Microsoft is committed to helping businesses navigate the increasingly treacherous waters of IT. We like having a thick layer of blubber. That, and we want to devour anything that looks like a penguin, without mercy."
posted by adipocere at 5:13 PM on August 7, 2007
... three months later, National Geographic receives a large donation from Microsoft after they outbid the FreeBSD Consortium for use of the photo #10 in a marketing campaign for the new company mascot, a leopard seal.
" ... Microsoft is committed to helping businesses navigate the increasingly treacherous waters of IT. We like having a thick layer of blubber. That, and we want to devour anything that looks like a penguin, without mercy."
posted by adipocere at 5:13 PM on August 7, 2007
Toekneesan: "Did anyone else soil the innocence of childhood by allowing their children to see Happy Feet? The seal scene in that movie made me poop my pull up."
I didn't soil my pants over it, but one of the many things about Happy Feet that soiled my lack of innocence was the utterly brutal way they disfigured Queen's "Somebody To Love."
posted by ZachsMind at 5:32 PM on August 7, 2007
I didn't soil my pants over it, but one of the many things about Happy Feet that soiled my lack of innocence was the utterly brutal way they disfigured Queen's "Somebody To Love."
posted by ZachsMind at 5:32 PM on August 7, 2007
Oh. And I didn't make any children watch that film because I don't have any. I refuse to be responsible for bringing any child into a world that would allow something like Happy Feet to exist.
posted by ZachsMind at 5:41 PM on August 7, 2007
posted by ZachsMind at 5:41 PM on August 7, 2007
There is a scene in March of the Penguins where they show a seal going after the birds. I was really impressed with how effectively the film-makers were able to take my perception of seals as being sweet and goofy, and demonstrate that, in fact, they are terrifying predators.
This photo reminded me of that.
posted by quin at 5:41 PM on August 7, 2007
This photo reminded me of that.
posted by quin at 5:41 PM on August 7, 2007
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posted by bshort at 3:34 PM on August 7, 2007