Port Lacroy, Antarctica

By Andre Crone (Adapted from "passport to diving the world")

Well Known For :

Ice diving alongside with seals. Enough said.

Crew and fellow divers thought I was crazy for wanting to photograph a leopard seal preying on a penguin underwater. Many of the divers had heard at least one horror story of a seal attack (rumour, maybe?) and thought it would be impossible to come so close. On a previous dive we'd found a leopard seal swimming around an iceberg. Visibility was dreadful though and the animal was too deep to photograph. On one of the last dives we discovered a seal that was feeding, catching every penguin it could. I entered the water and swam to the animal. It was much bigger than I expected, almost three metres long. I had to exorcise my fear and get close to the animal. After a while it became curious and allowed me to snap several images. Now I'm spoiled for life!

(Ok enough with the stories, I'm itchin' for a dive)