This penguin - horrifically stripped to bare bones - illustrates the circle of
life and realities of the fragile ecological balance on which all life depends.
It’s harsh, but I believe beauty can be captured in many forms; at least
that’s what I hoped for when I saw this while documenting wildlife in
rarely-visited waters.
Free-diving in Antarctica, I spent a week studying and swimming with the
curious Hydrurga leptonyx, the leopard seal. This image records one of
the many highlights of the experience, a hapless penguin chick suddenly
entering the water near the seal I was following.
With delicate and deliberate precision, the seal broke the penguin’s neck
and peeled back the skin, a rare act for a creature that mostly survives on
krill.
In that moment, I witnessed innocence, intelligence, vulnerability and a
silent grace - plus the serene synergy between the two species despite
the shocking savagery of the scene.