Common sense would dictate that I move on to another topic, skirting a story that inevitably makes some members of the public uneasy. However, in my consideration, this demonstration of the laws of nature provides a good illustration of an attitude that we sometimes adopt in regard to our planet’s problems. When the images we see do not jibe with what we want to see, we often prefer to turn away rather then looking reality straight in the eye.

In life, for balance to be maintained among species, there must be victims. This is the law of nature. The crabeater seal fell victim to its encounter with the leopard seal. Although the images shown are harsh, it is important to recognize that this is life, that such rules of natural selection are still in force worldwide, and that this reality plays out billions of times, every day, all over the world. When a blue whale swallows up as much as four tonnes of krill in a day, no one comes to the defence of these little, shrimp-like crustaceans. Those who have had the opportunity to observe such demonstrations of power and grace are simply impressed by the beauty of this amazing show of nature. But wait a minute! Every mouthful taken in by the whale claims thousands of victims. It’s as if our level of compassion were selective. Or rather, it’s as if we fancied ourselves capable of choosing victim and victor. Unquestionably, we prefer the dolphin’s fate to that of the rat. We are bedazzled by the fragile beauty of the butterfly but disgusted by spiders or cockroaches. How we look at things influences our judgment, which in turn influences our actions. Fortunately, nature still has the last word...

In our antiseptic societies, divorced from natural reality, we no longer see the reality that has always underlain life. Inevitably, death on the one hand ensures survival on the other. This is the defining principle of the food chain—the pyramid of life whereby ecosystems have been able to perpetuate themselves since life on this planet began.

Some of the emails we received today suggested that we do something for this poor creature, that we relieve the suffering of the crabeater seal. Some even asked if it would be possible to eliminate the leopard seal that prowls the harbour...

Rest assured, we will do nothing of the sort. We are the intruders in this territory, and we endeavour to keep our impact on this environment—which gets along very well without the presence of man—to an absolute minimum. We are not hear to play at being the Creator, deciding who wins and who loses. Life takes care of these decisions for us, naturally, and this is as it should be, despite the relative brutality of some images.

What should we do, as the privileged spectators of these natural scenes? Censure these images? Hush up the great laws of nature? We are here to report on and gain understanding of the rules that govern life in these latitudes. And the laws of nature that are in force here are no different from those that apply in your garden, in the forest of your favourite suburb or in the river or stream that flows by, close to your home. Wherever you go, in whatever environment, there are always predators and prey, victors and victims. The mosquito larva that grows in the pond engenders a biting insect that makes your life difficult in the summertime, sucking your blood without an ounce of remorse. This insect will be food for the bird that chirrups at your window, enlivening your early morning hours. This lovely bird will in its turn be killed by your kitty-cat, whose hunting instincts have not been squelched by domestication. Should we rid the world of cats because they catch the birds of the neighbourhood?

Fortunately, on judgment day, nature is not swayed by pleasantness of appearance.

So goes life, so goes death...

Well, then. Tomorrow, on to other things...that’s a promise!

Jean