Bring a change of wetsuit, just in case...

Wouldn’t it be awesome to be a National Geographic wildlife photographer?  Yeah, I thought so too until I saw this video in which NatGeo snapper Paul Nicklen describes his prolonged encounter with a huge leopard seal that took an unusual interest in his lack of predatory skill by offeri… you know what, just watch it.

My wife and I had the good fortune to meet some leopard seals in person a couple of years back, thanks to our colleagues at Taronga Zoo.  My two take-aways from that experience were (a) that they have big scary jaws and (b) that they have unusually gentle and melodic songs.  They had two at Taronga in separated enclosures, and they sang to each other more gently and sweetly than their bulk and dentition would suggest.  Amazing animals.