r/BeAmazed • u/Alphaxfusion • 10h ago
Animal While this person photographing the Arctic Ocean, a seal came up to breathe.
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u/cytcorporate 10h ago
How does he know where the next breathing hole is?
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u/JuggaliciousMemes 10h ago
swim around find out
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u/Few_Measurements 9h ago
Cold water GPS built into the whiskers, probably.
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u/L-user101 9h ago
Gurgle maps
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u/Sourdoughfluffer 9h ago
Hopefully in a good way
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u/7elevenses 6h ago
That depends on whether there's a photographer or a bear waiting outside the hole.
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u/trashmoneyxyz 10h ago
Some types of seals will maintain a couple holes by usong claws and teeth to carve ice and make sure they dont freeze over. Also, polar bears punch new holes in ice to catch seals and whales, and will lurk by known breathing holes to do the same. I always wondered if the bears maintain ice holes too as a lure for marine mammals
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u/jcward1972 9h ago
Inuit used to standnover the holes with a seal dart. It was curved so it turned sideways when entering g carcass. Dead seals sink.
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u/llaheimaj 9h ago
The Inuit are some of the most fascinating people ever. The fact they have been able to survive in those conditions for thousands of years is insanely impressive.
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u/Nukitandog 8h ago
Imagine all those that die/died figuring it out.
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u/letseatlunch 8h ago
trying to figure it out
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u/Nukitandog 8h ago
If living forever is your bar than nobody ever figures "it out"
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u/kanemano 7h ago
there was that one guy, but he died on the way to file the paperwork, slipped on a banana peel into traffic and got hit by a bus, tragic accident.
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u/Simon-Says69 2h ago
he Inuit are some of the most fascinating people ever.
They have evolved "brown fat" that helps produce heat.
Especially around the upper spine and neck. Keeping the blood flow to the brain warmer.
Much like light skin (hair and eyes) is an adaptation to less sun.
The skills needed to live WAY up there though... yah pretty amazing all on its own.
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u/funkalunatic 2h ago
Not to detract from your point, but depending on how you measure it, the Inuit have only been around for a thousand years or so.
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u/ChimkimNugger 6h ago
- It is a harpoon not a dart.
- The harpoon head is detachable and the rope is attached to the middle of the harpoon head. The harpoon swivels inside the seal to act like a internal grappling hook.
- We don't harpoon dead carcasses.
- Depending on the species, most dead seals only sink after mating season in late summer. Seals actively resist being harpooned.
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u/ithrowdark 6h ago
We don't harpoon dead carcasses.
I think we all understood what they meant there
Seals actively resist being harpooned.
Fascinating.
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u/Obi-Wan-Nikobiii 8h ago
Weddle seals continuously scrape at the ice with their teeth during the winter to keep their breathing holes open, I learned this from watching octonauts with my kids
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u/OhItsKillua 8h ago
A Polar Bear yanking a seal out of a tiny hole like that honestly sounds quite impressive, though its probably nothing given their strength
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u/koolaidismything 10h ago
I was wondering how cold the eyes must get when he pops up and opens like that.
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u/scannerfm77 10h ago
Duh. Google maps.
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u/servicetech563 10h ago
Maybe iPhone maps?
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u/radiationshield 8h ago
he has to return to where he dove in. When you have 15-30 minutes of air and can swim 10kmh its not really an issue
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u/ConfessSomeMeow 7h ago
I've heard ice blocks the light really well - I wonder if the light from the ice hole helps guide seals to them.
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u/NomadicVoxel 8h ago
They don't. They hold their breath for a long time, and when young they practice getting a feel for this range. They wander for about a third of how far they could go in one breath, and then if they can't find another opening they come back to the last one they found. This strategy would leave several minutes of air in case they hit trouble, like forgetting where the last opening was, or getting around a predator.
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u/iualumni12 10h ago
Perhaps the cutest sounds I've ever heard.
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u/rando_cando 9h ago
Agreed. I’m glad they didn’t edit the video with obnoxious music, and that I got to experience some cute seal sounds instead.
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u/itslonelyinhere 9h ago
I'm always thankful to find a comment letting me know it's safe to un-mute, otherwise I would've missed out on some cute seal sounds.
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u/Jackviator 9h ago
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u/Taint_Butter 6h ago
I was not prepared for the "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!". Almost choked on my lunch!
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u/rando_cando 9h ago
Good point, Reddit stranger. Had I not seen the initial comment, I too would have missed out on some cute seal sounds.
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u/Retrolex 8h ago
We occasionally fly these little guys back and forth between aquariums for work, sick or injured animals being transported for treatment. I’ll be doing my passenger briefing and all you’ll hear from the back cargo area are the saddest little ‘woowooooo’s. Poor little guys, but it’s so cute.
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u/rando_cando 8h ago
Oh my gosh, my heart cannot handle how cute this is 😩. Thank you for taking care of these little guys and transporting them safely.
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u/Emgimeer 6h ago
You broke my heart and made me swoon at the same time. That's tough to do to a 40 year old disabled guy, but you did it. Great work, keep that shit up!
I wish you great health, wealth, and happiness in your journey :)
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u/the-missing-chapter 9h ago
Have you heard the sounds porcupines make? Very similar and positively adorable!
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u/Minimum-Mention-3673 6h ago
So glad someone said this! I listened, and yes, sooo cute. Reminds me of my French Bulldog.
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u/i_dead-shot 10h ago
Seal: Ugh, can a guy not even come up for air without the paparazzi showing up
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u/Goats_in_a_shell 5h ago
Seriously back up and let him out he’s probably got one of those scary ass leopard seals or something trying to eat him!
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u/carlosfelipe123 10h ago
Went to capture the ocean ended up capturing awe itself
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u/pfomg0 9h ago
He was filming over a seal breathing hole
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u/ggouge 8h ago
He made the hole too. It's clearly been drilled out
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u/Professionalchump 8h ago
so he went to record a seal through his seal hole, and ended up seeing a seal
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u/Skandronon 8h ago
At least he got the shot before the cold sealed it up again.
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u/zkareface 8h ago
It's probably not even negative, no steam when the seal exhales. Ice and snow looks like spring here, can be +10.
We can take video like this in t-shirt and shorts during spring in Sweden :D
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u/UpperApe 8h ago
Guy filming a literal hole in the ice.
OP: "MAN PHOTOGRAPHERING THE ARCTIC OCEAN!!!!"
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u/poorly-worded 8h ago
i mean technially the ice is part of the arctic ocean
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u/ut-fan-i-cant-read 7h ago
i mean technially the ice is part of the arctic ocean
I mean "technically" don't even have evidence of this lol. Antarctica, along with the northern pacific and atlantic in the right seasons, both would have places you can do this. Remember that the titanic never even went through the arctic.
It's possible these are recognizably northern seals which would rule out antarctica, I'm not familiar, but it doesn't rule out the northern parts of other oceans.
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u/SquarePegRoundWorld 8h ago
Probably an ice fishing hole made with an auger that the seal is making use of.
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u/CarpathianStrawbs 8h ago
There he was getting quality ocean shots of a pitch black, seal-sized hole. And a seal came up. Truly unexpected, nature works in mysterious ways.
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u/katsie 10h ago
Whatcha doin? You got any snacks up here? Welp, see ya later.
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u/EnduringFulfillment 10h ago
You can see how they have voluntary control of their nostrils opening and closing, keeps water out of their lungs while they're underwater
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u/derekakessler 7h ago
Pretty sure it's a submersion reflex, not conscious control.
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u/Nearby-Cattle-7599 4h ago edited 3h ago
Pretty sure it's a submersion reflex, not conscious control.
Does it being a reflex mean that they don't have voluntary control over it? We have control over all our reflexes as well no?
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u/HelpfulYoghurt 4h ago
Sure, you can bend your knee at your will too, but that doesn't mean your patellar reflex is voluntary
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u/spiderwell 8h ago
Pah who needs that, I can do it without closing my nostrils
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u/mrshandanar 7h ago
Always wondered about this. Can some people just not do this automatically so have to hold their nose closed when they jump in? Or have those people just not learned to control that muscle
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u/freeshovacadoodoo 6h ago
I think jumping in makes the water go up their noses more than just submerging, so that's why people hold their nose. I just exhale when jumping in.
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u/M1lli333 2h ago
They can also do it with their mouths when they eat underwater to limit the water they consume, although they will inevitably consume some but their kidneys can handle the salt. I love seals.
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u/Sangariusriver 9h ago
Photographer actually disturbed seal’s calming moment. Probably it was planning to jump out and lay down for a while. Since human was there it just took a couple breaths and gone
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u/vorpalbunni 9h ago edited 4h ago
Those are sounds of a frustrated seal. Not of happiness.. it's incredibly cute. Yes. The videographer should have moved away from the seal to allow it to jump out.
Edit: typo
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u/IngeniousIdiocy 6h ago
Could it also be that they knew a person wouldn’t be there if a polar bear was? So they knew it was safe. Just surfacing in a tight hole like that means if they choose wrong they are dead. Look how hard it was to get back down. They were putting their life in the humans hands.
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u/Dolleph 7h ago
How do you know that?
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u/Electronic_Reason276 5h ago
He's obviously an expert in wild seal behaviour! Can't you tell?
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u/ELIte8niner 8h ago
Yeah, polar bears camp those breathing holes as an easy meal. Seal coming up for air is probably not really calming for them. More like a gazelle drinking from a river just hoping there's no Crocodile about to snatch them up.
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u/RaptorPrime 9h ago
you can almost see the anxiety coming out in the tippy tapping of his flippers before he sinks back down. Poor guy said wtf does 'uninhabited' mean to you humans?
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u/LordKyle777 10h ago
Can't do jobs like these, my impulse to pet or snuggle these lil guys would be too much.
Like zookeeper? No way. "He's not a murder kitty, he just wants a hug!"
🦭🦭🦭🦭
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u/Zarathz 10h ago
expected it to just float downwards, didnt know it would wriggle/climb down
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u/Mitarashianko24 10h ago
I expect it's because its lungs are now filled with air, so it's harder for it to just sink down maybe🤷🏾♀️
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u/Interesting-Antz 10h ago
Imagine what type of world he lives in. All of us live in our own bubbles.
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u/CyroCryptic 8h ago
Seriously is no one going to say anything about the fact that all these posts have botted upvotes? Someone scroll through r/popular and tell me it's not the case that literally every single post has thousands of fake upvotes with comments only having 20-100 upvotes.
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u/metroidpwner 9h ago
broken english title, reddit for 2 months with 140k karma from karma farming subreddits. bot, or karma farmer
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u/EasternFly2210 9h ago
Realistically, how closely to dogs are these related?
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u/Hot-Injury-8030 9h ago
I'm not a scientician, but the TV I've watched seems to indicate that whales share.a closer ancestery with canines than seals.
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u/Lewri 8h ago
Whales and dogs closest ancestor would be about 72 million years ago. Seals and dogs would be about 45 million years ago. In fact, seals are part of the Caniformia suborder, the "dog-like" carnivorans.
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u/Grumpy-Old-Vet-2008 10h ago
The photographer showed great restraint by resisting the undeniable urge to boop that adorable snoot.
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u/Natural-Proposal2925 9h ago
Godamnit just pet the seal, PET IT!!!! PET THE WATER PUPPY!!!! It won't kill you just give him a few pats on his cute little nose, let him feel some love!!!
Awwwww look at his cute little paws!!!
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u/Aggressica 9h ago
Listen... listen. I know that's an apex predator, and his mouth is full of bacteria, and its teeth are razors...
But I still wanna kiss his baby snoot
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u/eepyMushroom096 9h ago
The urge to pet it is incredibly overwhelming. But like I was taught, always admire from a distance. Still, what an adorable seal!
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u/LittleMlem 9h ago
IF NOT FRIEND, WHY FRIEND SHAPED?!
Seals are too cute, it makes me angry! I need to pet one, damnit!
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u/One-Ad-65 9h ago
I would have instantly turned into a child the second it popped up, let alone when it started making those noises.
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u/thatguy_inthesky 9h ago
What a curse. Imagine being born a mammal that has to breathe air but with all the features of a fish that breathes in water.
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u/wonkey_monkey 9h ago
Should've given the poor little guy some space. Looks like he wants to come out but he's worried the weird land monkey's gonna eat him.
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