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Thread: Hard life of a Grey Seal youngster ..... born early this winter

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Default Hard life of a Grey Seal youngster ..... born early this winter

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    Hi folks a quick story that i already witnessed some years ago ,that an adult GreySeal bull ...... dominates a youngster or in the other case a small Harbour Seal !!!
    On this morning i was watching some adult seals play fighting in the surf .... all of sudden a youngster wanted to emerge from the sea , so the youngster tried to get onto the beach . But the 4 adult bulls did not want to let him go without giving him a hard time .
    A few moments later he could escape because the bulls started fighting ... because of him .
    So he ran to the dunes ..... after a short time the adults realized they have lost their toy .... so they stopped fighting and followed the little guy . All of a sudden a even bigger bull appeared from the sea ,saw the youngster and chased off all there bulls just by his presence , at first it did just look as he was defending the youngster ....

    But then this story took place ....... just look .

    Cheers Andreas

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Dear Andreas,

    This is by far the most heart wrenching sequence shared in this Forum and IMO a meaningful, accurate and true story - I thank you so much for sharing.Despite the horror or anguish some viewers might experience while viewing, I have no doubt they will appreciate your journalistic skills. I certainly do. Watching and capturing such events is a real test for many wildlife photographers, in my case I admit to switching to "autopilot" when witnessing something like this - what was it like for you?

    This sequence portrays reality in Nature and I really like how the truth emerges slowly as we witness those painful moments in the life of the pup. Despite the upset it might cause, the sequence as a whole is extremely thought provoking. I realise this is not a burst and everything is put together to follow a logical order, which makes it so much easier to visualise the story. I love the arrangement and the image quality of some frames is superb. Beautiful light and so sweet, when it comes to light balance they all look similar, indeed it all comes together so nicely - congratulations my friend!
    I just wish to thank you again for capturing and conveying the moment, superb work Andreas

    Warmest regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Thank you Gabriela for your thoughtful reply ..... i know by experience this might hurt viewers or their emotions , but that is real life !! And i just document this . Nothing more and nothing less . I kept emotions out of my mind during the shooting ...... not the right time if you want to create such stuff . I was staying there for about an hour with the seals and nobody else saw it . For sure i felt sorry for the pup .
    I could have easily chased the big bull off the scene ... by just standing up and yelling at him . But i did not , because when the youngster will move again when i have left ..... he will be in the same situation as the bulls where hanging around there .
    My guess is that they do it because all the females are no longer ready for courtship , as they have already given birth to the pups and shortly after that they will copulate with a male and then they are no longer available for the bulls .

    Thanks again , Andreas

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Indeed Andreas, painful as it is to watch this is Nature - our job is to observe, record and then tell the story.

    Yes you could have chased one bull or two but you did well not to interfere, Nature has its ways and we often do not fully understand the reasons why certain things happen. Unlike humans, animals cannot be "mean", they act upon instinct. The more we witness, the better we understand their behaviour.

    Have a wonderful day, my friend!
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Hi Andreas -- This is incredible , you have got a terrific series of images , award winning moments . Thanks a bunch for sharing this !

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    Andreas it's hard not to interfere and change nature, agree you have a terrific set of pictures to illustrate this .

    Keith.

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    Lifetime Member Marina Scarr's Avatar
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    Amazing images and story here. They are also good I'm not even sure which frame is my favorite. This must've been an amazing moment to witness and photograph. Thank you for sharing.
    Marina Scarr
    Florida Master Naturalist
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