Fur Seals: Striking Fear in the Hearts of Men

Canon 7D, 500mmf4L IS, 1/200th @f4.5, ISO 200

Look on ye short of bravery! Look deep into those dark, fierce eyes! Do they not strike fear into your heart? Do they not fill you with terror?

No?

Well they should. Because this little guy, cute as he may be, a few years from now will be leaping out of the tussocks, snarling like a pit-bull as you pass. This is one of the drawbacks of visiting South Georgia Island. Fur Seals are absolutely everywhere. They cover the beaches and fill the tussock slopes until the alpine zone 400 feet above the beach.

And they don't like you. Not one little bit.

Fur Seals, particularly the females can be very aggressive, very aggressive. My description of them leaping out of the tussocks is not at all an exaggeration. It is not uncommon for tourists to be bitten. One guide on our trip, Jim Danzenbaker had the knee of his waders patched up from a previous run-in with a grumpy seal. Luckily this year there were no contacts, aside from one saucy juvenile like the one above who decided to take a nip at the toe of my boot (only my pride was damaged).

There are a few techniques for dealing with these monsters. The most effective is to always carry a walking stick or tripod which can be used to fend off the charging seals. It isn't used as a club, more of a pointer. Point your tripod at the nose of the seal and it will, 99.9% of the time, stop in its tracks. Most charges are bluff, but in the event that it isn't, it's a good idea to have something between you and the seal.

From a photographic perspective, it isn't hard to get close. Too close is usually much more of a problem. The pups will come right up when they aren't napping. Their curiosity is endearing, as are their grayish, alien eyes. The adults will come right up too, but their teeth are usually bared and your tripod is too occupied shooing them away to hold a camera. But getting portraits from a few yards back is simple.

Canon 7D, 70-200 f2.8L, 1/160th @ f2.8, ISO 200

This one is an adult male. Not one of the really big ones, but a sizable fellow nonetheless. The males, gratefully, are usually confident in their status and don't feel the need to attack every human that walks by. I'm grateful for this because the few big ones I've been charged by have been much harder to dissuade with a pointy stick.

I like the big guys though. They look so arrogant with their noses in the air, eyes half-closed in disdain at the rest of the world.

Though I do think they'd look much better with a big red circus ball balanced on their nose. Maybe I'll bring one on my next trip.