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Wildlife As if all the non-living threats to your well-being on Antarctic sea ice were not enough, there are two living threats. One is the killer whale, which patrols these waters in search of seals and penguins to eat and can easily consume a person who accidentally fell into the water. The other is the leopard seal. One of these bulky beasts once dragged the explorer Gareth Wood toward a watery death before he was able to escape (see Survival Stories). Another almost got Thomas Orde-Lees during Shackleton's expedition. The 12-foot-long animal chased Orde-Lees over the ice before vanishing back into the water, only to resurface in front of him, having tracked his shadow from beneath the ice. The rifle pictured here, William Bakewell's Winchester .30-.30 carbine, may have been the very weapon Frank Wild used to finally bring the lunging creature down. |
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