Dive Pacific Iss 171 Oct- Nov 2019

If penguins could fly, by Eduardo Del Álamo, Spain
Highly Commended 2019
A gentoo penguin, the fastest underwater
swimmer of all penguins, flees from a leopard
seal. Eduardo was expecting it. He had spotted
the penguin resting on a fragment of broken
ice. But he had also seen the leopard seal
patrolling off the Antarctic Peninsula coast,
close to the gentoo’s colony on Cuverville
Island. Leopard seals are formidable
predators. Females can be 3.5 metres long
and weigh more than 500 kg, males slightly
less. They hunt almost anything, from fish
to the pups of other seal species. They also
play with their prey, as here, with the leopard
seal pursuing the penguin for more than 15
minutes before finally catching and eating it.
Canon EOS 7D Mark II + 100–400mm f4.5–5.6
lens at 110mm; 1/2500 sec at f10; ISO 1000.
Last gasp by Adrian Hirschi, Switzerland
A newborn hippo, just days old, was keeping
close to its mother in the shallows of Lake
Kariba, Zimbabwe, when a large bull suddenly
made a beeline for them chasing the mother,
then seized the calf clearly intent on killing
it with the distraught mother looking on.
Adrian’s fast reaction and fast exposure
captured the shocking drama. Infanticide
among hippos is rare but may result from
the stress caused through overcrowding
when their day-resting pools dry out. A male
may also increase his reproductive chances
by killing young that are not his, triggering
females to go into oestrus, and becoming
ready to mate again.
Nikon D750 + 400mm f2.8 lens; 1/2000 sec at
f6.3 (-0.7 e/v); ISO 640; Gitzo monopod.
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