a chubby Weddell Seal

Weddell seals are what some refer to as the "snicker of the sea", as they are the preferred snack for the apex predator of this ocean - Orca. These large marine mammals are quite calm and not intimidated by the presence of zodiacs and people, whether that be out of confidence or simply lack of understanding - personal I think it is the latter reason. Hence, the ability to get a close encounter without disturbing the animal at all is quite easy to do so. You just need a bit of patience and approach it slowly, where it can see you coming from a long way off and then it will simply stare at you for a few moments and then lay its head back down to rest more.

To identify this species of seal, you simply look at its face, as you can see it has a flattened face and something like a cat muzzle. Also, their head is proportionally a lot small for its body, which I do find somewhat amusing when I find them resting on the ice floes around the Antarctic peninsula. To me, it always looks like they are smiling too...

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