He Approached A Vicious Leopard Seal Very Carefully, And What Happened Is Impossible To Believe.
When National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen was assigned to go to Antarctica to photograph leopard seals, he was understandably nervous. Not only are these skilled hunters one of the largest species of seal in the world, they've been known to attack people with their sharp teeth and massive, powerful jaws. Swimming with them didn't exactly sound inviting.
But when Paul finally got in the water, he was greeted by something he never could have expected.
"I slipped into the water, terrified of what might happen, and I swam up to this leopard seal... My legs were shaking, I had dry mouth..."
"She took my whole head and my camera inside her mouth and did this threat displays...But then the most amazing thing happened..."
"She went off and got me a live penguin, and she came up and started to feed me a penguin."
"And right away she dropped the penguin. She came up to me and she opened her mouth...and her head is twice as wide as a grizzly bear's the head. Just huge."