Mother nature isn’t kind to wildlife; many assume their position as either the prey or the predator depending on the cards they’re dealt. Unfortunately for Antarctic penguins, being so small makes them prime targets for larger animals, especially massive leopard seals.
It’s no secret that Antarctic sea ice is melting, and with that in mind, penguins that would normally take advantage of the high ground to evade predation are compelled to skip from one icy landmass to another, even if that means drawing attention to themselves as they skip between the icy flakes between them all.
In this video, we see what appears to be an Antarctic penguin fleeing from a hungry leopard seal. The penguin struggles to stay above the surface while the leopard seal effortlessly glides along in the water underneath it. It seems for a moment that the penguin is able to find high ground, but it decides to enter the cold water again.
The leopard seal chases the penguin once more, even appearing to ‘touch’ the bird’s hindquarters with its nose, but it doesn’t seem to chomp down on the bird regardless. Soon, the exhausted penguin finds a place to take a breather, but the leopard seal hops right up next to the penguin.
After a short stare-off and some noise, the leopard seal goes away. Perhaps it just wanted to play.