Richard Doherty, Baby elephant seal seeks company (NATURE WILDERNESS 2025)

South Georgia's elephant seal pups grow quickly on their mothers' milk but are weaned at just a few weeks of age. They spend the next few weeks in groups near the water's edge before hunger forces them out to sea to feed themselves. These disarmingly cute, chubby sea puppies are inquisitive and gregarious. Snotty noses are almost universal. Canon 5DMkIV, EF 70-200mm f/2.8L+2x teleconverter @400mm, ISO 320, f/5.6, 1/200sec

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.