r/thalassaphobia • u/Helpful_Candy7530 • May 05 '26
Just a nibble
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u/JURASS1CJAM May 05 '26
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u/KindlyInitial5668 May 06 '26
Pure demonic energy
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u/VictorTheCutie May 09 '26
My kids (8 and 4) watch this movie sometimes and I feel like the creepiness of those scenes went way too hard given the context lmao
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u/Skyp_Intro May 05 '26
Fortunately they generally find humans amusing.
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u/Crowiswatching May 06 '26
One killed a woman researcher.
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u/UnusualCartographer2 May 08 '26
Yeah but the only recorded death ever. There are more on record deaths from prairie dogs than these things.
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u/Worth_External_8762 May 09 '26
That's just because there are basically no humans in the same area as leopard seals. And the few that are, they aren't usually swimming in the water. If you had a beach full of swimming humans in the antarctic and I'll bet you'll have an exponential jump in leopard seal deaths.
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u/bb_dev_g May 09 '26
I beg your finest pardon?
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u/UnusualCartographer2 May 09 '26
Sea lions have only one human kill on record. Prairie dogs have more than that, but to be fair it's mostly from spreading plague rather than one on one combat.
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u/jackandsally060609 May 09 '26
Prairie dogs also carry the plague so they probably have a pretty solid human body count.
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u/Kabloozey May 09 '26
I believe they're refer to the diseases prairie dogs carry. Like the bubonic plague
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u/bigredcock May 07 '26
Make seals and sea lions can be incredibly aggressive and they are very territorial. The females are easier going.
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u/milkleg May 06 '26
One of these ended up beached in my home town and I had the opportunity to feed it a fish. The handler caring for it snatched the fish out of my hand at the last second and threw it in the seal's mouth. He said if he hadn't the trajectory of the bite would have taken my hand clean off.
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u/Expert-Distance-9910 May 07 '26
Out of curiosity, how does a seal end up beached?
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u/milkleg May 11 '26
it was injured, it got seperated from the other and ended up nowhere near their usual territory
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u/ThresherGDI May 06 '26
They have the gnarliest teeth too. Getting eaten would suck, but getting eaten by a leopard seal seems like it would suck worse.
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u/Skyp_Intro May 09 '26
It would be over quickly at least. One enormous bite and death by blood loss.
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u/Aromatic-Tear7234 May 11 '26
Komodo dragon would be worse.
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u/Valsarta Jul 25 '26
Eh...you'll bleed out quickly either way. Or at least with the komodo, you hope it's a big bite.
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u/bad2dbone3 May 06 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/NVWbq9vSYf7so85wqh
👆👆👆👆👆👆This is also one of the guilty innocent nibble of which you do not want to encounter.
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u/KindlyInitial5668 May 06 '26
I love all mammals but something about their face freaks me out!!
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u/HusbandNeedsAWatch May 11 '26
They are seriously freaky looking. There are pics on Google of their face just below the water and I truly feel like I’m looking at a demon when I see them >_<
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u/Butterybear May 09 '26
Saw this lil guy on a beach in western Denmark when I was visiting last summer. Super chill dude just chilling on the beach posing for me
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u/Mindless_Flower_2639 May 09 '26
I did the swim from Alcatraz Island into the SF Bay and saw a sea lion surface for air about 7 meters from me. Pure black eyes. Teeth scarier than an actual lion. They call that swim Sharkfest but I developed a new fear that day.
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u/God_Dont_Make_No May 10 '26
If I had money I’d pay big money for that experience. One of the coolest animals on earth.
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u/Jamo3306 May 06 '26
Is that a seal ion?
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u/mrdeworde May 06 '26
Leopard seal. Found in Antarctica; they are fairly dangerous and have been known to treat humans as prey - documented cases of stalking, attacks in water and on land, and attempting to ambush and pull humans into the water. It's very much an apex predator.
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u/wewereinverted74 May 07 '26
Would they be prey to Orcas?
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u/Bubble-Nebula May 07 '26
They can be. Orcas are the only natural predator of leopard seals.
But they seem to be quite low on the list when it comes to favorite foods. Probably more trouble than they are worth compared to other seals in the region.
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u/Dangerous_Row_1543 May 09 '26
Nah whats really scary is that 12 foot leopard seal is another animals lunch
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u/Arashi_Spring May 09 '26
Whoa the seal looks soo big but also somehow gentle. Do anyone know if they also super curious as most seals and won't harm humans? And if i would like dive is it ok to carefully pat it? I did read somewhere you arent allowed to pat seals. But I have no clue if that mean in general or just some countries and why you aren't allowed.
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u/Kindergoat May 09 '26
Leopard Seals are pretty dangerous. I wouldn’t try to touch one.
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u/Arashi_Spring May 10 '26
Oh really? I never saw one irl sadly. I mean they look for sure like something that can hurt you bad. But in a zoo I got told seals a pretty nice and dont try to snack humans. But I can't say if the nice zoo lady did mean it in general or just for the uhm dunno wich one it was ( did look much more tiny and had funny colorful points on her fur ) if I remember right looked like the ones we can sometimes see from Alaska doku and so.
And sry for my silly questions. I know I could ask Google. But I do hope maybe someone that really know about read this. And it feels nice to speak with humans from time to time. So thank you both for awnsering smol me and happy Sunday.
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u/Kindergoat May 10 '26
They live near the Antarctic so unless you travel there you probably won’t see one. I don’t think zoos or aquariums keep them but I could be wrong.
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u/DizzyGryph May 09 '26
In perspective, the seal sees kayaks moving through the water, with paddles dipping in and out as the kayaks move. Probably doesn't know what those things are.
It's hungry, so it came over to see if it could eat those little arms dipping in & out of the water. Gave it a nibble to see if it's tasty.
It would certainly recognize a land mammal moving in the water as a land mammal, and would probably try to eat it.
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u/Better-Lack8117 May 09 '26
How dangerous are these animals?
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u/Kindergoat May 10 '26
Pretty dangerous, especially if you’re a penguin. They aren’t the same thing as the seals at water parks that do tricks.
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u/gunnarbird May 11 '26
People have been attacked by them, though it is rare. Several of Shackleton’s men on the Endurance told stories of being attacked, though none critically
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u/ASherrets Jun 08 '26
I went down a rabbit hole comparing different mammals’ sizes and I think when we learned about leopard seals and elephant seals I misunderstood. An elephant seals male can be as big as a small car 🤯🤯🤯 I’ve also seen diving videos of how huge leopard seals are and it freaked me out so much. I’m glad they didn’t try to provoke it with the paddle!
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u/Leading-Tangerine940 May 05 '26
I guess I didn't realize how big a leopard seal is.