Читать книгу National Geographic Kids Chapters: Diving With Sharks!: And More True Stories of Extreme Adventures! - Margaret Gurevich - Страница 7

Jennifer Hayes took this picture of a mother harp seal nuzzling her baby. (Photo Credit p1.2.1)

The water temperature in Canada’s Gulf of St. Lawrence was below freezing, but diver, scientist, and photographer Jennifer Hayes hardly noticed. She had thick, warm clothes under her dry suit. She wore special dry gloves and boots attached to her suit. These items were made to keep her warm. What Jennifer didn’t know was that they would save her life on this dive.

Jennifer was snorkeling alone this time, without her husband, David Doubilet. Her goal was to take photos of a baby harp seal and its mother. But that was a challenging assignment (sounds like ah-SINE-ment) because mother and pup harp seals don’t stay together long. After a harp seal is born, its mother nurses it for between 12 and 15 days. Then the mother leaves her pup to survive on its own.

Jennifer jumped into the icy waters in search of a mother and her pup. Before long, she spotted a baby seal on top of a sheet of frozen ice, or ice floe (sounds like FLO).

Just as Jennifer approached the pup, its mother swooped past Jennifer and swam toward her pup. Jennifer watched as the pup and mom met underwater. They rubbed noses. “It was a kiss of recognition,” said Jennifer. She captured the tender moment with her camera before the mom led her pup away.

Jennifer wanted more photos of the mom and pup together. As the seals swam toward another ice floe, Jennifer swam alongside them. The pup kept swimming toward her. He seemed interested. But each time the pup got too close, his mom would push him back with her flipper.

Did You Know?

By day 15, harp seals can reach 80 pounds (36.3 kg). However, after their mothers leave them, they can lose more than half of that weight before they figure out how to survive on their own.

Yet the baby seal was determined. As the seals and Jennifer swam through the ice, the pup came closer and closer to Jennifer. When Jennifer and the seals stopped to rest, the pup climbed onto Jennifer’s arm. Jennifer floated on her back, and the pup pushed himself onto her chest. Jennifer couldn’t believe she was so close to the pup. She clicked away with her camera. Finally, the pup rolled off her chest. His mom swam over and inspected him, making sure he was okay.

Jennifer floated in the water, watching the seals, when she suddenly felt a nip on her right ankle. Then she felt another bite on her left ankle. What was going on?

“I looked down and saw more than 20 male harp seals circling below me,” said Jennifer. She took a picture of them. She wasn’t worried. She remembered her guide’s warning when she was learning to dive: Sometimes the animals will test you.

Her thought was cut short, though, as a 400-pound (181-kg) male seal suddenly climbed onto her back and over her head. He pushed her completely underwater and knocked off her mask.

The uncertainty of what could happen next concerned Jennifer. Would the harp seal attack her again? Jennifer grabbed her mask and tried to put it back on her face. Then another blur zoomed past her.

But this blur wasn’t after Jennifer. It was the mother harp seal, and she was after the male. The mother seal dived down and slammed into the male seal. Jennifer saw a jumble of fur and flippers as the mother harp seal battled the male seal. Jennifer and the pup floated above the mother and male, watching and waiting.

(Photo Credit p1.2.2)

Think you have what it takes to be a diver like David and Jennifer? You can start by watching the animals you want to study. Learn about their habits from the Internet, books, or visiting them in an aquarium. Learn to swim or snorkel. Then bring your camera and practice taking pictures of animals from a safe distance away. Don’t be afraid to ask an expert’s advice. And be patient. David and Jennifer sometimes wait for hours to get that perfect shot.

Finally, the mother resurfaced. She grunted as she swam toward her pup. She inspected her pup. She nudged him through the water with her head and flippers.

When the mother was sure her pup wasn’t hurt, she swam to Jennifer. This surprised Jennifer. She couldn’t believe the mother seal seemed to care about her, too. “She began to nudge me like she did her pup, until I was next to him,” said Jennifer.

Then the mother began to move the pair through the water, away from the male seals below them. There was a small gap in the ice. The mother and pup slipped into the gap and disappeared. Jennifer watched them go.

Jennifer swam to the edge of the ice and began taking off her weight belt and camera. But before she could finish, she felt a sharp pain on her leg. The male harp seal had returned.

He bit Jennifer again on her thigh. The bite was deep. She knew she had to make it out of the water and onto the ice. If she didn’t, the results could be deadly. “He could have pulled me underneath the sheet of ice that went on for hundreds and hundreds of feet,” said Jennifer. “I would have been stuck under the ice.”

Jennifer jumped onto the ice floe. She could stand on the ice, but it hurt to walk far. Her right leg felt weak, and there were puncture wounds in her dry suit, but there was no gushing blood. “I thought it might not be so bad,” she said. But she needed to be sure. Back on her boat, she inspected her leg. The bite was long but not bleeding too badly. It hurt, but it wasn’t a life-and-death situation (sounds like sit-yoo-A-shun).

More than two years later, Jennifer still has the scars and the memories. “The suit saved my life,” she said. If the suit hadn’t been made of tough Kevlar, the seal might have broken through it. Her injuries could have been much worse.

But that frightening moment is not what she focuses on. Instead, she’s in awe of the mother seal and how she protected Jennifer. “Had someone else told this story to me, I wouldn’t have believed them. I’m less of a skeptic now. Animals do amazing things, and there’s no answer why,” she said.