I’ve been fortunate to dive in
Antarctica for the last 14 years
it’s hands-down my favorite place on the
planet to to dive and I’m fortunate to
be the first person to ever actually
receive their open water certification
so everything I know everything I first
learned and everything I first fell in
love with underwater started in
Antarctica so we have pulled in to Port
Lockroy
we go through the normal rigmarole of
gearing everything up to you know 150
pounds of gear is what it it takes to to
get in the water in Antarctica I head
out to the dive site drop in the water
so I’m looking down in the viewfinder
and concentrating on an enemy and all a
sudden this light goes off in the back
of my head and and I swing the camera
around and all I have is the belly of a
13 foot female leopard seal going across
the screen and bam disappeared i back
myself up to the cliff this is the first
time I’ve ever been in the water with
with a leopard seal and in the green
haze of the plankton bloom I’m suddenly
seeing the shape and it’s coming closer
and it’s coming closer and there she is
and she I’ve got the camera in front of
me and she is right there comes directly
up to the camera and is looking at it I
mean we’re doing this head role checking
herself out in the reflection and then
she disappears and I think okay this is
my chance I I might be able to at least
you know get up over the wall and I so I
quick I scurry up the 10 feet and and
turn around and there she is again
she’s right in my face so for the next
twenty minutes it was this scene of me
sort of I’d scurry up five to ten feet
and I turn around and the seal would be
right there again and I you know and she
was it was like she was playing she was
certainly not aggressive but very
very curious right up until the moment I
got out of the water and even as we
headed back to the ship she actually
followed the zodiac back to the ship and
it’s right then when I became absolutely
in love with leopard seals with their
power their intelligence and grace
Antarctica for the last 14 years
it’s hands-down my favorite place on the
planet to to dive and I’m fortunate to
be the first person to ever actually
receive their open water certification
so everything I know everything I first
learned and everything I first fell in
love with underwater started in
Antarctica so we have pulled in to Port
Lockroy
we go through the normal rigmarole of
gearing everything up to you know 150
pounds of gear is what it it takes to to
get in the water in Antarctica I head
out to the dive site drop in the water
so I’m looking down in the viewfinder
and concentrating on an enemy and all a
sudden this light goes off in the back
of my head and and I swing the camera
around and all I have is the belly of a
13 foot female leopard seal going across
the screen and bam disappeared i back
myself up to the cliff this is the first
time I’ve ever been in the water with
with a leopard seal and in the green
haze of the plankton bloom I’m suddenly
seeing the shape and it’s coming closer
and it’s coming closer and there she is
and she I’ve got the camera in front of
me and she is right there comes directly
up to the camera and is looking at it I
mean we’re doing this head role checking
herself out in the reflection and then
she disappears and I think okay this is
my chance I I might be able to at least
you know get up over the wall and I so I
quick I scurry up the 10 feet and and
turn around and there she is again
she’s right in my face so for the next
twenty minutes it was this scene of me
sort of I’d scurry up five to ten feet
and I turn around and the seal would be
right there again and I you know and she
was it was like she was playing she was
certainly not aggressive but very
very curious right up until the moment I
got out of the water and even as we
headed back to the ship she actually
followed the zodiac back to the ship and
it’s right then when I became absolutely
in love with leopard seals with their
power their intelligence and grace
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