Leopard seals have built a bit of a report for being lone creatures who , like Joey fromFriends , do not share food . Or so we thought .
Drones late captured footage of a top executive penguin colony in South Georgia . But to the surprisal of researchers based at the University of Plymouth in the UK , the video clipping also shows 36 Panthera pardus seals feasting together on a spread of the ( unlucky ) penguins .
The footage is included in a subject field published in the journalPolar Biology .
As the researchers involved point out , leopard seals are usually antipathetical towards one another but will hunt alongside each other if forced to in area of abundant prey . As with the colony of king penguins .
The picture that particularly shook the research worker was the sight of two seals not only eating near to each other but sharing the same carcase . It is the first time such a thing has been record , they say .
While the footage is exciting , the researchers have been quick to point out caveat to their breakthrough and say they are not certain if it is truly a case of cooperation for common benefit – or if they still witness each other as contest but were too scared to dog the other away , thus risking suffer their meal completely .
Still , it highlights just how little we know about the lives of these cryptic creatures .
" Leopard seals are often portrayed as the villains – chasing downlike penguin inHappy Feetand creating mayhem in the Antarctic , " said lead author James Robbins , a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Plymouth and formerly with the British Antarctic Survey , said in astatement .
" In world , short is known about these enigmatic creatures , and these observations bring home the bacon fundamental insights into their conduct and societal antics . "
Part of the reason for this is their option of venue – the frigid clime of the outback Antarctic . What ’s more , when they are seen , they are ofttimes alone or perched atop an unaccessible iceberg .
" I ’ve in person had over 500 clash with Panthera pardus seal and have never see two animals being so tolerant of each other , " Robbinsadded .
It is not the first sentence unusual demeanour has been captured on film . Killer whale have been caught making waves to advertize sealskin off crisphead lettuce . On another occasion , leopard seals have been come across evidently feeding human diver .
researcher involved in the current survey suggest this feeding could be another example of concerted feeding , the argument being that it is more DOE expedient to share food than it is to seek to defend their repast by chase away rival .
" The remoteness of Antarctic ecosystems can make it challenging to connect with the wildlife there , but this new footage provides a rare windowpane into that world , " co - source David Hocking from Monash Universityadded .
" This study also bring home the bacon a dandy representative of how new technology is helping researcher to make close - hand observance of wild animate being . By using a tv camera drone pipe , the filmmakers were able to aviate above the creature without disturbing them , revealing elaborate behaviors that otherwise may have gone unnoticed to shoring - based observers . "
