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Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Leopard seal

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Leopard seal edit

 
Original - The leopard seal is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the Southern Elephant Seal), and is near the top of the Antarctic food chain. The Leopard Seal has an unusually loose jaw that can open more than 160 degrees allowing it to bite larger prey. However, it is versatile in the prey it takes, which ranges from krill to penguins.
 
"Edit 2" This may be the edge of sharpness attainable given the grain in this image. Keep in mind that Southern Atlantic islands rarely experience bright lighting, so the photographer probably chose the right grain for the conditions.
Reason
Leopard seals are most common in the Antarctic, hence we have only a few images. This one is the best. I gave it a slight groom - see if it's enough for your tastes.
Articles this image appears in
Leopard Seal, marine mammal, List of mammals in Saint Helena, List of mammals in the Falkland Islands, List of mammals in the Cook Islands, List of mammals of Bouvet Island
Creator
B.navez
  • Support as nominator --Papa Lima Whiskey (talk) 15:05, 17 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Weak oppose Nice image, but it lacks "wow". Slightly blurry at full resolution. Juliancolton Tropical Cyclone 15:27, 17 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Weak support Wows me enough, but some of it is blurry, especially the flipper. Elephantissimo (talk) 16:21, 17 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • oppose I like the thumb, but disappointingly blurry at full rez. de Bivort 20:06, 17 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Weak support pretty much agree with Elephantissimo. I'm not sure the blurry detracts, and it's kinda cute for an animal that is not in the least bit cute, and it shows its mouth nicely, like it's all mouth, and man, these beasts have dangerous mouths. Good shooting for the capture, imo. I gotta go with Mbz1, "what' a beast!" and I love the emphasis in the pose, the body leaning forward into the thing that is most compelling about this predator, the mouth from hell. --Blechnic (talk) 22:29, 17 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support Edit 2. The photo is encyclopedic, and the edit does a good job sharpening it. It's far from perfect, however, I admit. NauticaShades 00:07, 18 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose - still too blurry to be a FP.--Svetovid (talk) 06:58, 18 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose. Too blurry Clegs (talk) 17:26, 18 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Weak Oppose - Pretty good but the seal blends in with the background a little bit -- Ketchup Krew Heinz 57! 21:17, 18 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    • Comment Maybe we can take a photo studio down there for the seal. There's a reason the seal blends in to the background. It's called evolution. It probably took millions of years for that to occur. Heaven help its prey. --Blechnic (talk) 22:00, 18 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      • No, it's a fair point. It's unlikely seals have evolved to blend into stones/rocks, as they hunt mainly at sea, and have few, if any, natural predators on land. Like many sea predators they have probably evolved their colouring to make it hard for prey to sea them in the water. And if you look in the article there's several pictures of them on ice/snow, where they're anything but camouflaged. --jjron (talk) 08:53, 20 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
        • Because maybe when they hunt penguins, they come up from the bottom, where the substrate is likely to be a similar colour to the stones in the picture. So what Blechnic said actually makes some sense. Papa Lima Whiskey (talk) 18:17, 20 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
          • To move on earth, they can't use their too short anterior flips and they are the only seals obliged to creep like snakes, very uneasily. On the beach nothing to eat and no one to fear, so no logical reason to blend. It was a pebble beach and that's all. I asked it to follow me in my room for there was an orange plaid on my bed. It would make a nice contrast for the picture but it refused and threatened me. I shot it at this very moment. --B.navez (talk) 01:55, 21 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
            • Hmmm, I hope you don't shoot everything that refuses to follow you to your room ;-). --jjron (talk) 14:26, 22 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support any Yes, a little bit blurry, but what a beast!--Mbz1 (talk) 16:31, 19 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support Surprised and pleased to have it nominated. Technically that is not the best of a picture but teeth are a bit impressive. I shot it in 1999 with a Contax a few time before the camera I bought in 1982 died because of salt corrosion. Lens was Zeiss 50mm, so I took it very close to the beast. It is a young one, about half the size an adult. Adults are used to running away as youngs just stay there along the path. Not very common on Kerguelen. I had the chance to watch leopard seals only three times in 9 months.--B.navez (talk) 09:06, 20 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support No, not quite perfect, but it illustrates the whole animal well, in its natural (and difficult to access) habitat, and in a dynamic pose. Matt Deres (talk) 17:18, 22 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No consensus MER-C 05:57, 25 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

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