Marty’s photo of the day #2388: This short excerpt from my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, explains the shot:
As Olle and the others meandered away, I lagged behind to take some photos. In the midst of setting up a shot, I inadvertently invaded the personal space of a fur seal. He bared his sharp teeth and charged me with a terrifying roar!
I stood tall, raised my hands in the air, and shouted, “I’m big! I’m big!”
Ten feet short of me he stopped, turned, and retreated with a whimper. I had called his bluff.
I wasn’t the first person charged by a fur seal. A few minutes earlier, the same thing had happened to Olle. Having witnessed his stand-tall technique, I copied it, trusting my seal would be as predictable as his was. Luckily, the seal stopped when he did, because another foot or two and I might have violated the rule against defecating on shore landings.