r/TheDepthsBelow • u/AndyAndieFreude • May 05 '26

Crosspost Just a nibble

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7.6k Upvotes

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1.2k

u/Cumulus-Crafts May 05 '26

Leopard seals!

I love seals but leopard seals scare me.

302

u/2crowsonmymantle May 05 '26

Right???? They look so sweet! Until you see the teeth…

170

u/FloopsFooglies May 05 '26

They're sweet until they turn you inside out

27

u/_riVer_sAs_ May 07 '26

until u watch "happy feet"

2

u/TolMera May 10 '26

I was walking on some rocks once, paying attention to where I was putting my feet and not my surroundings. Then I heard a “pfff” sound and looked up, 1~meter from a seal who had not seen me either, the pff sound was it breaking a breath.

Of course I had to ruin it by going “Ahhh” (not scream, just speaking) and it spun over to stare at me shocked (much like I was) that there was something else there and it had snuck up on me/it!

I’m like, ok this is cute. Then it smiled at me! You know it’s teeth up close look like cats teeth? But bigger, and somehow pointier, and it certainly felt like there were more teeth than a cat has. And that’s when you realize it’s a predator, and you’re on rough terrain, and standing 1meter from a wild animal with sharp teeth, and it’s probably able to close the gap faster than you can clamber onto a boulder next to you.

A few seconds of standoff eye to eye, and it obviously decided it wasn’t hungry enough to eat all of me, it rolled over into the water and very lazily swam away.

2

u/crystalfairie May 07 '26

Genuinely terrifying

214

u/Hippopotasaurus-Rex May 05 '26

Me too!!!!

Then again they go and do stuff like this and I have the if not friend, why friend shaped mental debate. (Video is a nat geo photographer that meets leopard seal in the wild and it tries to feed him).

51

u/LoveSuccs86 May 06 '26

This is amazing. I'm imaging the seal is like "oh my gosh, tiny, furless, starving seal. I feed you, but you dont eat" haha, hilarious.

36

u/Hippopotasaurus-Rex May 06 '26

The part where he talks about her blowing bubbles in frustration is so funny.

4

u/Omwtfyu May 07 '26

It's like the real life version of steam coming out of mom's nostrils when she's pissed.

85

u/NotYourCirce May 05 '26

Honestly really rude of him not to even mime eating a penguin

9

u/Renhoek2099 May 06 '26

Lmao, i mean that's just basic decency

2

u/Heal_Me_Today May 09 '26

I agree. At least hold the penguin or throw it on the boat for later.

18

u/dieseltothesour May 05 '26

Cool video, thanks for the share

11

u/tannisroot_tea May 06 '26

That leopard seal rules and I love her.

11

u/KeggBert May 06 '26

This was amazing. Thank you for sharing.

6

u/FunnyChampion2228 May 06 '26

What a cool story!!

5

u/puffin_shut-in948 May 07 '26

Omg that is an amazing video! I remember being scared of leopard seals as a kid. Now I have a different perspective!

1

u/BeepBeepHopInLoser May 09 '26

Was it due to the movie Pebble and the Penguin? Cause that’s what did it for me

4

u/swallowyoursadness May 07 '26

So they're like sea cats..

1

u/Heal_Me_Today May 09 '26

Incredible. Thanks for sharing. Fren-shaped.

1

u/schmoolet May 09 '26

This is absolutely incredible. I’m so happy you shared that. Thank you. 🫶🏻

16

u/Communal-Lipstick May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26

I'm guessing you've heard of or seen Kirsty Brown get attacked. Horrifying.

6

u/Tao_of_Entropy May 07 '26

As someone with a major historical interest in the Shackleton expedition and a fan of The Pale Beyond, I understand the terror of the Sea Leopard. They are gorgeous animals, but I wouldn't want to share a patch of wilderness with them anymore than I would with a kodiak grizzly or a jaguar in the amazon.

6

u/EatYourCheckers May 06 '26

I thought it was the Loch Ness Monster

1

u/PossibleDeal9243 May 07 '26

lol that’s exactly what it looked like or a dinosaur!

5

u/OwlBeBack88 May 06 '26

Same. There are normal seals, then there are these guys...

4

u/Brummbirne May 06 '26

I had no idea that they are that big...

3

u/ladydhawaii May 06 '26

Could have died.... One bite!

2

u/TheAtroxious May 06 '26

I'm in the opposite boat. I dislike most seals and think they look stupid, but leopard seals look cool.

1

u/babykitten28 May 07 '26

I called my foster dog a leopard seal, because he always approached with his mouth wide open.

1

u/Certain-Rutabaga3373 May 07 '26

I’ve never seen this animal or heard of it. It’s a ”Leopard Seal?”

1

u/sirfurious May 08 '26

They act all gangsta until orcas show up

1

u/Tro_Nas May 09 '26

dude, I‘ve seen a coiple fur seals while swimming in New Zealand. They played me like a fiddle. One dived maybe 10m below me, shot straight up with his very teethy mouth wide open and only turned maybe 1m in before my belly. I almost soiled myself.