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The island of Baekryeongdo boasts a beautiful sunset.
But tension hangs over this breathtaking scenery.
Under the silent but beautiful cliffs is the realm of the spotted seal.
Spotted seal (Natural monument No. 331)
Spotted seals are rare visitors to the DMZ.
Seals that have successfully raised families
near China's Liaodong peninsula migrate in groups
along the west coast of North Korea every March,
and sojourn in Baekryeongdo Island for the summer,
before returning home in autumn.
About three hundred spotted seals stay near Baekryeongdo Island every summer.
Hostilities between the two Koreas, as it turns out,
provide the seals with a safest possible refuge.
Seals may be clumsy on land,
but it's a different story when they hit water.
They are the veritable underwater acrobats swimming
and changing course with their fins at will.
Spotted seals are also excellent divers with the ability
to reach depths in excess of three hundred meters.
Just under the rocks where the seals congregate is covered with kelp,
which attract plankton,
and in turn diverse species of fish that feed on them.
One such species is the stingfish, the seals' favorite food.
But the stingfish is not an easy prey, as it is adept at hiding.
This fish hides between the rocks at the slightest hint of danger.
To hunt the fish down,
the seals combine a keen sense of hearing and vision,
and also sense ripples created by moving fish.
This stingfish makes a dash for the rocks away from the waiting predator.
The spotted seal just misses its meal.
Some seals have the bad luck of having a prey in their sights
only to lose out to a competitor.
But not all stingfish makes successful getaways.
Stingfish fills a seal's belly like no other food.
Being mammals, and unable to breathe under water,
the seals must raise their heads above water and breathe every two or three minutes.
Except for the time under the water feeding,
the spotted sea lives a peaceful existence,
spending most of the day on the rocks relaxing in the sun.
The spotted sea has neighbors in the form of cormorants and seagulls,
and the feisty seagulls usually prevail over the cormorants.
Just as in all animal societies,
there is a hierarchy of power among the spotted seals.
The hierarchy is represented by the location of each sea on the rock,
with the top being occupied by the oldest and strongest alpha male.
The weak and the young gather at the bottom.
They all, however, must worry about natural forces.
Their idyll on the rock is broken up by the high tide.
Being mammals, a solid footing beneath can make their breathing easier,
which can been exceedingly hard
when they have to breathe while floating on water.
When the lower half of the rock is submerged,
only males higher up in the pecking order remains.
Yet the tide is threatening to take their spots under water.
Some of them curl their tails in a desperate attempt to keep out of the water,
and end up looking like odd seals.
As hard as they try to hold on, it is impossible with the water fill up.
Only two seals manage to stay on what remains of the rock.
They must stay put and wait a very long time
before the water begins to recede.
One of them forced off the rock becomes so exhausted,
and it soon falls asleep in the water.
The time finally comes for the number two male.
It knows better than to insist on staying on the rock with the alpha male.
Against the forces of nature, however, even absolute power is of no defense.
The entire rock is soon swallowed up by the rising water,
and even the alpha male must take to the waves.
But if anything, nature is precise and predictable.
Low tide comes, the water goes down,
and the seals take their places on the rock once more.
Peace comes back to the big rock for the seals.