Penguin Hops on a Boat Full of Photographers To Escape the Wrath of a Seal

One little penguin decided to hitch a ride on an Antarctic taxi in order to find a safe place to land. In a video originally captured by Vladimir Seliverstov, the tiny creature suddenly makes an appearance on a boat carrying a group of photographers. Naturally, this resulted in some incredible footage of the creature standing at the bow—looking not-so-large but definitely in charge—before hopping off as if it was no big deal.

Seliverstov offers some context for the penguin's trip. “[An] Adelie penguin jumped into our Zodiac [inflatable boat] while we were cruising around an iceberg,” Seliverstov explains, “he was escaping from a leopard seal and didn't want to go back into the water so we decided to take him to the iceberg where his friends were waiting.”

The short video concludes with the flightless bird jumping from the edge of the boat and landing on the hard-packed snow and ice. He then runs up the hill as the people on the boat say, “Bye!” And, “Thank you!” They were surely just as grateful for the penguin’s cameo as the bird was to flee that leopard seal.

A penguin hopped on an inflatable boat in the Antarctic to get away from a leopard seal. Vladimir Seliverstov captured some incredible footage.

Vladimir Seliverstov: Instagram

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Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled "Embroidered Life" that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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