Criminal damage… within tent! Wildlife photographer comes back to camp to find female elephant seals have crushed his temporary home

The mishap occurred on the isle of South Georgia near the Antarctic Circle
Seals launched the attack as the crew shot penguins for a documentary
The four-tonne mammals sat on one of the tents and refused to budge
They only rolled off the mangled tent when they got bored to rejoin herd

PUBLISHED: 12:19 EST, 26 November 2013 | UPDATED: 20:03 EST, 26 November 2013

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If you anger animals on an Antarctic isle, they won't attack you, they'll just sit on your stuff - as this unfortunate wildlife photographer found out.

He did his best to save what belongings he could, but the fate of his tent was already sealed.

A herd of four-tonne female elephant seals belly-flopped across the ice and parked themselves squarely on his temporary home, crushing it beyond recognition.

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Disbelief: The crew did their best to save their belongings, but the fate of their tent was already sealed

No need to blubber! The crew did their best to save their belongings, but the fate of their tent was already sealed

Blubber off! The seals writhed and yelped as they made sure there was nothing left of the orange tent

Tent up aggression: The seals writhed and yelped as they made sure there was nothing left of the orange tent

Beyond recognition: This is all that was left of the tent by the time the seals rolled off

Criminal damage... within tent: This is all that was left of the tent by the time the seals rolled off

Despite his, and his colleagues', attempts to shoo them away, the group of animals refused to budge until they'd had their fun.

After some 15 minutes they got bored of the prank and finally rolled off, grunting and yelping, to rejoin their herd.

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The seals launched the surprise attack as the team, from London-based film company Atlantic Productions, filmed emperor penguins on South Georgia, a remote and rugged British island between Argentina and Antarctica.

Anthony Geffen, the film’s producer, said: 'The crew were camped out for months on South Georgia to get the amazing story of a young King Penguin, and each day they set off to film in different locations around “Penguin City” where up to a million penguins live.

Criminal damage... within tent! Elephant seals destroy film...

Not an ice thing to do: The seals launched the surprise attack as the team filmed emperor penguins on South Georgia, a remote and rugged British island between Argentina and Antarctica

Ent-icing: Though one of the most remote places on earth, the island is also home to one of Earth's most feverish breeding grounds

Not an ice thing to do: The seals launched the surprise attack as the team, from London-based film company Atlantic Productions, filmed emperor penguins on South Georgia, a remote and rugged British island between Argentina and Antarctica

'While they were busy concentrating on getting the tale of our hero King Penguin in the can, what they didn’t see was that back at the camp a herd of massive slephant seals were busy wallowing all over the tents.

'They had to double up on the accommodation that night - and it just shows that film making isn’t always glamorous especially with stars like the ones we have in our film.'

Though one of the most remote places on earth, the island is also home to one of Earth's most feverish breeding grounds.

Mischievous: Earlier, one of the younger seals tried to make off with one of the crew's walkie talkies but they saved it in the nick of time

Mister and missus: Males' harems can contain several dozen females, which are somewhat lighter on their feet being a fifth of the males¿ size and therefore able to get up to more mischief

Mister or missus? Males' harems can contain several dozen females, which are somewhat lighter on their feet being a fifth of the males¿ size and therefore able to get up to more mischief

It's perhaps a good job these southern elephant seals were only females; males are the largest living carnivore and can grow up to 16ft and weigh 8,800lb.

Their harems can contain several dozen females, which are somewhat lighter on their feet being a fifth of the males’ size and therefore able to get up to mischief with the many unattached males which hang around hoping for an illicit affair.

While the male bull seals are promiscuous, the king penguins with whom they share the island are renowned for their monogamy, as the male shares care of the egg equally with the female.

The clip is from the making of a feature film Adventures of the Penguin King, which is being released on 6th December 2013 in theatres and on VOD in the US, with Rex the King Penguin voiced by Tim Allen, best known for being Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story movies.

To know more see Atlantic Productions' Twitter feed, @AtlanticProds, or visit them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Adventures-of-the-Penguin-King.

Atlantic Productions

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Figaro65-Skegness, SKEGNESS, United Kingdom, 1 day ago

What have the penguins got that we haven't we want our photos taken and we are not moving till you do so there

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Anaconda, Tucson, United States, 1 day ago

lucky they were not inside sleeping!

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Mr Tom, Wales, United Kingdom, 1 day ago

One of the funniest articles I have read all year. I would love to hear the story from the seals perspective and why they actually did it? Was it a protest or as it was just the lady seals, the colour?