Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 11/22/2010 - 09:41

Hi Katey, I am a researcher on IceCube, and I am enjoying reading your posts. I wanted to give your readers some information about the penguins and seals, since you took the photo with them so close together, yet you thought they were enemies. It turns out that there are 2 basic types of seals in Antarctica: those that eat penguins, and those that do not. In either case, it doesn't matter much, because the seals on land are typically resting from eating in the sea, so the seals aren't as much of a threat because they're full. I'm not sure which type of seal you had in your photo, but these are the reasons why the penguins weren't afraid. I thought your readers would want to know this. :)

Katey Shirey

Thanks, Dr. Mystery Researcher. I never knew that there were seals not interested in penguins. It's great to know! My next question is how did they all find the same hole to come out of? The ice sheet is so big! It seems random that they'd find each other, or maybe it's that they were all feeding on some fish in the same area. Thanks again,-Katey