Alexey Trofimov spent 3 years trying to get his first shoot of seals on the ice, as these cute animals are really shy, cautious, and difficult to photograph. “If a seal pup is not too scared, they will begin to become curious about you and this is what this seal was doing,” Trofimov told Caters News.
When the photographer finally managed to get closer to the baby seal near Lake Baikal in Russia, “It was a very rare and special moment.”Show Full Text
While the furry seal baby is the definition of cute, the way they are treated by humans is something of a horror story. For instance, each year in Canada, hudreds of thousands of baby seals are shot or bludgeoned to death. Hunters use metal-hook-tipped clubs and boat hooks to drag half-conscious seals across the ice. Sealers then leave the dying animals to rot on the ice floes, because they can’t make money off seal meal.
More info: Photograph Alexey Trofimov | Facebook (h/t: catersnews)
Alexy Trofimov spent 3 years trying to get his first shot of seals on the ice
Image credits: Alexey Trofimov/Caters News
When the photographer finally managed to get that close to the baby seal, “It was a very rare and special moment”
Image credits: Alexey Trofimov/Caters News
These cute animals are really shy, cautious, and difficult to photograph
Image credits: Alexey Trofimov/Caters News
“If a seal pup is not too scared, they will begin to become curious about you and this is what this seal was doing”
Image credits: Alexey Trofimov/Caters News
He captured the baby seal when on trip to Lake Baikal: “For the seals, I came on foot”
Image credits: Alexey Trofimov/Caters News
“The photos were taken from different distances, I managed to get fairly close to the pups”
Image credits: Alexey Trofimov/Caters News
“It was particularly difficult to shoot Baikal seal pup on the ice”
Image credits: Alexey Trofimov/Caters News
Trofimov says that his task is “to show not only the beauty, but also the fragility of the world around us”
Image credits: Alexey Trofimov/Caters News