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that show complete indifference to their human visitors. Few people have ever ventured out across the Arctic pack ice to see the newly born pups of the harp seals, but the image of the vulnerable, white pup with its huge eyes awaiting the death-dealing club of the sealer is one of the most potent weapons available to conservationists and has done much to raise people’s awareness of the troubled lives of these animals.

Seals are found in all the world’s oceans, although they are at their most abundant in the coldest regions. The warmer seas such as the Caribbean and Mediterra­ nean have only a few left, but there is still a chance of a brief encounter with a seal on any stretch of coastline anywhere in the world. Some have even become isolated in freshwater; the Baikal seal lives in a vast freshwater lake far from any other seals, enduring some of the harshest winter con­ ditions on Earth.

Playful Galapagos sea lions learn the skills they will need in later life by practicing mock battles in shallow water near the shore.

A Cape fur seal shows the typical pointed nose of the fur seals and the long whiskers used for sensing prey in the water. Streaming eyes are often seen in fur seals and sea lions as they produce a secretion to protect them from sea water.

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