McMurdo Sound, Antarctica,
1989
Photograph by George F. Mobley
Through an opening in the ice, a baby seal pops out of the water and takes a curious glance. All seals leave the water at least once a year to breed. Since seals are pregnant for almost a year, the females (cows) are soon impregnated again right after having their young (pup).
(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Antarctica: A Land of Isolation No More," April 1990, National Geographic magazine)