9/20/2005: Leopard seal attacks

ferkelparade sends along this item which looks a lot like the electric fence python - a lot of mouth, a lot of teeth, and an animal pic not suitable for Friday. Apparently this is a NatGeo pic that ferkelparade (thanks btw) found in a German newspaper site.

Ferkel notes, the image shows a leopard seal attacking a diver - who was able to get a photo seconds before being bitten in the head. Apparently, the diver survived because the seal wasn't out to kill but was only interested in chasing away the intruder.

Yeah, that would chase me away!

NOW SEE!!!!

Everybody asks me why I (who live on Canada's Eastern Seaboard) avoid going into the sea itself.

The sea is not a lovely pretty place full of wonderful life.

It's stuffed chock-a-block with things like this!

And a fur seal is one of the LITTLE critters with teeth... try saying "shoo... bad fishy... bad fishy..." to a F--king White Shark!

Little Mermaid my ass!

.... pant... pant... pant...

Okay... better now.

And yes... before anybody asks, I was bit by a rock crab when I was kid while wadding in the ocean... what of it

That's the problem with nature. There is always something waiting to bite you, pinch you, sting you, or ooze something on you.

I am totally sympatico with Ubergeek there. All these beasts you cannot see! Down in the murky, scary water! Some of them are PREHISTORIC! There's stuff in there we don't even KNOW is in there! All waiting to bite you! No, thanks.

I had never heard of leopard seals, so I took a quick Google cruise. Some fun leopard seal facts:

# Leopard Seals are the only seals that eat other seals.
# Leopard seals have a excellent senses of sight and smell under water.
# Leopard seals catch penguins by their feet and then beat them back and forth on the surface of the water to skin them. Then, they eat the carcass.

I think if more seals had teeth like the leopard seal, we wouldn't have to be concerned about folks clubbing baby seals.

These things sound pretty brutal. Purhaps the hunters should be beating baby leopard seals instead of baby harp seals.**


** Please Note
This poster niether participates or condones the beating of either baby harp seals, baby leopard seals, or any other baby animal therein despite the fact they could potentially grow to be adults and eventually gnaw you leg off.

Els!

i need to remember on a clear water day on the shoreline of the gulf to have my camera with me when i can see (from the airplane) umpteen million sharks swimming near the people splashing and playing in the surf......

Aww c'mon - the water isn't that bad.

Actually, a female biology student was attacked & killed by a leopard seal a few years ago. They're pretty nasty critters!

Quote:

Originally Posted by plthijinx Els! i need to remember on a clear water day on the shoreline of the gulf to have my camera with me when i can see (from the airplane) umpteen million sharks swimming near the people splashing and playing in the surf......

Aw....come back......I was only kidding.

WOW what an awesome photo!!!

However I do detect a bit of plaque on the lower right lateral incisor, she may want to have that looked at before it becomes a cavity.

I love stuff like this, I think we need reminding once in a while that if taken out of our usual habitats we are no longer the masters of nature we think we are, and most of us tumble off the top of the food chain pretty quickly.

Ubergeek said:

You'd shoot your eye out.......well, at least your ears.