Seals eat penguins after raping them (video below). And no, we’re not talking about Navy seals pursuing women of God, we’re talking about the antarctic animal. In what was at first considered to be a one off occurrence, and not something pandemic throughout the seal community, it has recently been shown to be a somewhat widespread problem. So what exactly is happening in the frigid environment of Antarctica?
Animals can be real pricks, and as sexually twisted as any person. There are of course the awkwardly aroused elephants, or even the sick bastards of the bird kingdom, the mallard ducks. It seems as though at every corner there’s a dark secret that animals are harboring. But this one, even though it was observed once before, has truly shocked many experts. Perhaps it’s a case of penguins being served a dish of rough justice for their wicked behavior, or maybe even a case of seals doing to others what has been done to them. While both these scenarios are unlikely, it has raised a few questions, principle among them, why?
Why do seals eat penguins after raping them?
To get to this answer we first must point out what was actually observed in Antarctica. Back in 2006 some research scientists observed a seal raping a penguin. Although intrigued, they didn’t think too much about this one single act. It had never been seen before, and was thought to be an isolated incident. But recently this isolated incident has turned out to be disturbingly common. A little too common, if you get my drift.
Recently researchers from the University of Pretoria noticed four instances of seals engaging in forced copulation with king penguins. In three of the encounters it was a case of rape and leave the bewildered animal to their devices. but in the other case, it was a scene that Jeffrey Dahmer would have been proud of. After having forced sex with the flightless Antarctic bird, the overly aggressive and aroused seal ate the penguin. And get this, they don’t even know the sex of the penguin, so it could have even been homosexual rape followed by a ritualistic killing and consumption, That’s seriously sick stuff. So what do the professionals make of this?
The scientists are as bewildered and confused as the penguins, it would seem. They really can’t pinpoint any reason at all for why seals eat penguins after raping them, let alone raping them. They do have a few theories though. Lead scientist Nico de Bruyn believes that this may be a learned behavior. They see other adult males do it, so they follow suit. It’s also possible that they are using the penguins as a sick way of practicing for the real encounter with their own species. He also has another theory that it could be a case of releasing sexual frustrations, as during the breeding season the sexual hormones surge. It’s even possible that they need some form of vision correction, because they are just simply misidentifying the penguins as female seals.
In any event, the fact that seals eat penguins after raping them is pretty disturbing. If you are brave enough, watch the video below. The seal does look disturbingly pleased with himself.
We really can’t think of what the reward may be for these young males, Other than perhaps learning that these birds are an easier target to practice their copulatory skills.
~Nico de Bruyn
SOURCES
- Seals discovered having sex with penguins
- King penguin sexual harassment by fur seals
- Seals are having sex with penguins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0evs5MRtD8
