While penguins tend to steal the show in Antarctica, it's easy to forget that there's plenty of other sea life to be seen. This crabeater seal looked liked it wanted to invite me onto the ice with a bit of a friendly smile. That probably wouldn't have been a good ideal for a number of reasons, but I sure do enjoy seeing what appears to be a friendly seal!

You can see your fair share of seals be it crabeaters, weddell or elephant seals in Antarctica. I encountered this particular crabeater near the Antarctic Circle by Vernadsky Research Base. A place where the landscape changes to one that is at once both beautiful and harsh.
 
As far as seals go, crabeaters are rather slender, but an adult will weigh in at well over 400lbs. That's not much compared to leopard seals or the ginormous elephant seals. Still, I wouldn't want to tussle with one, even if it does look like it's smiling and is glad to see me.