It’s come to my attention that over the past few days, this seal has apparently taken on a life of his own online, where he’s now being referred to as “The Champ.” I met The Champ back in 2014 on Carcass Island in the Falkland Islands. He was at the age when he likely just left his mother and was newly out on his own. I was on a long trail-less hike to an area I’m sure not too many people visit when I spotted him all alone behind protective dunes. I took a few wide-angle shots at ground level and then moved on to the nearby penguins. Who knew that twelve years later the story of The Champ would start to take hold on Reddit, X and TikTok with people describing him as “blob,” “sausage” and “sealshi roll.” Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 25mm) ISO 800, f/6.3 at 1/1000th of a second.
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It’s come to my attention that over the past few days, this seal has apparently taken on a life of his own online, where he’s now being referred to as “The Champ.” I met The Champ back in 2014 on Carcass Island in the Falkland Islands. He was at the age when he likely just left his mother and was newly out on his own. I was on a long trail-less hike to an area I’m sure not too many people visit when I spotted him all alone behind protective dunes. I took a few wide-angle shots at ground level and then moved on to the nearby penguins. Who knew that twelve years later the story of The Champ would start to take hold on Reddit, X and TikTok with people describing him as “blob,” “sausage” and “sealshi roll.” Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 25mm) ISO 800, f/6.3 at 1/1000th of a second.