Antarctica Category winner at Global Arctic Award 2014. The Royal Photographic Society Gold Medal.

Clash of the Giants

The giant petrels share more than just their size with the albatrosses. They have a shoulder lock, a wing adaptation that locks the wing in an outstretched position, allowing them to hold the wings out when gliding across the ocean without effort. But they are no albatrosses and are also the only members of the petrel order that feed on land, regularly feeding on carcasses.  Southern Giant Petrels are very prone to fight. When dealing with competitors on the beach they adopt wings out position known as the beach-master. Those two were fighting over the carcass of a Southern Elephant Seal pup on St. Andrews Bay in South Georgia Island.