The best and worst neighbors

While both of these cute animals might look harmless, only one will disrupt your day. Both the Weddell seals and Skua gulls are sighted every day in MacTown, but one will make even the bravest antarctic sole scurry of for cover and be the laughing stock of the town. Believe it or not, the skua is the biggest predator here in MacTown. They are huge, their beaks are made for tearing, and they are greedy. Each day they hide outside the galley and wait for unsuspecting victims to walk back to their dorm with food. They swoop down and go for the food and sometimes the person too. I have had two unfortunate attacks. Both times I was looking for the skua and was blindsided. The first time I was carrying my gloves in one hand, and he swooped in and stole one of them. He then took it to a nearby roof and stared at me. I had a cold left hand the rest of the day at work. The next incident occurred last week, and a ham and cheese sandwich was my loss... along with my dignity. Seals on the other hand lay around on the ice and play happily in the water pools not posing a threat to anyone. Before the strict Antarctic Treaty was signed explorers were known to play a game where they would run full speed at the seal and plunge into it. The winner was the guy who flew the furthest distance back off the blubber trampoline. I'm serious! Early explorers also killed and ate seals as their easiest kill and most abundant source of food. They discovered that the blubber was flammable and they used it to light their stoves that would keep them warm and melt water from the ice. Without seals the explorers would not have survived the Antarctic cold. Moral of the story: Best neighbor= seal Worst neighbor= skua New phrase: The verb skua. To SKUA something is to steal something with reckless intent