madmanchan

Antarctica, 2019

These emperor penguin chicks are just chillin’ on a warm summer’s day (*) on the sea ice. As close as they were to each other last November when this image was taken, they’re probably much closer together now. In winter, as temperatures plummet to -60 F, they press tightly against each other in a mass huddle to maximize warmth.

(*) “Warm” is relative, of course. Here, 25 F is considered pretty warm.

Alaska, 2018

Of the wildlife images in this series, this one is probably as close as it gets to the topic of social distancing. The bear on the right was preparing to dive towards a group of salmon and didn’t seem to notice the other bear until she was just a couple of feet away. She stopped her run very suddenly when she noticed. The other bear whirled around and began growling, and the two bears trash talked for a few moments before turning around and going their separate ways.