On the Skeleton Coast, in northwestern Namibia, there are about 12 lions that broke the rules of their own species. While the rest of their population—about 80 individuals—continues hunting in the desert, they walk among giant dunes and the icy waters of the Atlantic, and have learned to eat seals, cormorants, and flamingos.
An 18-month study revealed something hard to believe: those marine prey animals account for 86% of everything three young lionesses eat. One of them, Gamma, just 3 and a half years old, can kill up to 40 seals in a single night, as documented by Belgian photographer Griet Van Malderen in images recognized by the Natural History Museum in London.
Researcher Philip Stander has been tracking them since 1980 and already has a name for them: sea lions. They survive without drinking a single drop of fresh water, hydrating only from the meat they hunt, in one of the most hostile environments on Earth.
