Usually I’m not really easily scared. When animals approach me I just sit put and take more pictures enjoying these intimate moments with wild animals. In some cases however, it’s better to back off a little. In this case we were zodiac cruising through the pack ice and found a Leopard Seal sleeping in the middle of an ice floe. We had a look for a while, hoping that she would lift her head. When she finally did, she immediately came ‘running’ towards us. Stopping only a few meters away from the bow of my zodiac. Well, maybe she had the intention to board the zodiac, but I had already put my zodiac in reverse so that was not really an option. Even though I had enough space in my zodiac, having a large Leopard Seal in it didn’t seem like a great idea… In the IAATO-exam we guides have to take usually is the question what to do when a penguin jumps into your zodiac. I never read anything about what to do with Leopard Seals in zodiacs, so I decided to prevent that… But even with a few more meters between us and the animal it was a great experience!