Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2014/02/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Jayanand, These are all fantastic shots, I?ve particularly liked this one <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/antarctica/Antarctica_20140113_3962.jpg.html> a really lovely couple!!!!I see you shot at high ISO and high speed too, your pictures are extremely sharp, are they all hand held? Thanks for sharing this beautiful nature show? long live to our planet! Cheers LLuis El 07/02/2014, a las 14:19, Jayanand Govindaraj <jayanand at gmail.com> escribi?: > Elephant Seals look like prehistoric beasts, something out of a fantasy > novel, or an RPG computer game, weird and sort of out of this world. In > Gold Harbour, there were hundreds of juvenile males, most of them lying in > groups, moulting their skin, piled close to each other, in a pungent > mixture of mud, water and their excreta. Their mating season gets over in > November, so the 5 tonne fully grown adult males were all out to sea, > feeding and replenishing their reserves. They are quite amazing beasts, and > radio tracking has now confirmed that they dive to 5000+ feet in the ocean, > resurface for half a minute and dive again to the same depth. Nobody has as > yet cottoned on to the body chemistry that allows them to do that, and > research is still active around this. > > Here a King Penguin inspects one such group: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/antarctica/Antarctica_20140113_3476.jpg.html > > Usually, their inactivity is marred only by a leisurely scratch on a > particularly itchy bit of moulting skin: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/antarctica/Antarctica_20140113_3568.jpg.html > > They let you get quite close to them, just looking curiously back at you > with those limpid eyes: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/antarctica/Antarctica_20140113_3648.jpg.html > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/antarctica/Antarctica_20140113_3781.jpg.html > > Some pray on the waters edge (-: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/antarctica/Antarctica_20140113_3714.jpg.html > > But these are juveniles, and the testosterone flow is strong, and > periodically they test their strength with each other, in training to > become Beachmasters when they grow up, as well as decide the pecking order > within a group. They joust on land: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/antarctica/Antarctica_20140113_3455.jpg.html > > At waters edge: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/antarctica/Antarctica_20140113_3532.jpg.html > > They come in all shapes, sizes and colours: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/antarctica/Antarctica_20140113_3872.jpg.html > > The standard move is to rear back, mouths agape: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/antarctica/Antarctica_20140113_3890.jpg.html > > Then lunge and thud into each other: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/antarctica/Antarctica_20140113_3921.jpg.html > > Frequently ending in a boxer's clinch: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/antarctica/Antarctica_20140113_3850.jpg.html > > They are so preoccupied, you can get in close, on foot, reasonably safely: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/antarctica/Antarctica_20140113_3962.jpg.html > > Closer: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/antarctica/Antarctica_20140113_4016.jpg.html > > And closer still: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/antarctica/Antarctica_20140113_3937.jpg.html > > They are surprisingly fast on land, and one has to keep an eye out for > accidentally being trampled over, which with that weight and bulk.....(-: > > Please see LARGE > > Comments and criticism, as ever, welcome > > Cheers > Jayanand > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information