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With razor-sharp teeth, powerful jaws and remarkable agility in the water, the leopard seal is one of Antarctica’s premier predators. During the peak of the austral summer, the animal patrols the waters near penguin colonies, lying in wait for the birds. When Canadian photographer Paul Nicklen first encountered this female seal off the Antarctic Peninsula, she responded with a series of threat displays. But as she became accustomed to his presence, he says, “she calmed down and offered me her prey.” The seal, an estimated 12 feet long, was only a few inches away when Nicklen made this image of her.