15th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
Arctic Soul

It's hard to explain what it does to you to have encounters like this, eye to eye, two souls, one heartbeat. A harbour seal at the surface in the cold Arctic waters of Virgohamna, Northern Svalbard. These seals have a colony far away from the other colonies, all up North. When the sun is out, which does not happen often, they bask in the warmth or can be found more at the surface, before they hide again in the cold dark waters.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 07.2015
Date Uploaded: 11.2017
Photo Location: Virgohamna, Norway
Camera: NIKON D800
Copyright: © Ellen Cuylaerts