18th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
Sound asleep

Weddell seals eat large fishes beneath the ice in Antarctica, such as toothfish. After a bout of feeding, they come ashore to sleep on snow banks. Both in and out of the water, they produce a loud, otherworldly down-swept call, like lazer sounds in a sci-fi movie. They clearly 'sing' while they sleep. As I photographed this sleeping beauty, it sang and I couldn't help wondering if it was dreaming. And if so, of what?

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 12.2018
Date Uploaded: 11.2020
Photo Location: D'Hanaut Island, Antarctica
Camera: Canon EOS 7D Mark II
Copyright: © Conor Ryan