Antarctic Animal Encounters - Fur Seal 1
Young fur seal selects himself for an afternoon of fun by the sea

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These pictures were taken one afternoon in the Antarctic spring (October) when I went for a walk from the base on Signy island to the Gourlay Peninsula, about a mile and half as the skua flies, but it always felt a lot further than this due to the incredibly rugged nature of Signy's terrain.

Gourlay is a favourite place for the wildlife lover with huge nesting colonies of adélie and chinstrap penguins, loads of other birds and plenty of seals, particularly fur seals.

Many of the seals are young males, unable or not old enough to mate, so they tend to hang around together. For many people their first encounters with fur seals are rather disconcerting as they run along towards you on their flippers for a few strides before stretching their neck out and growling at you while showing some quite impressive canines.

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