“This is a meeting that I will never forget.”
By Ashley Ortiz
Published on June 6, 2025 at 5:53 PM
As a wildlife photographer, Patrik Luther has found himself in the middle of many breathtaking animal encounters. But one unexpected discovery a few months ago was unlike anything he’d ever experienced.
It all started when Luther ventured into a small forest outside of his home in Norrtälje, Sweden, one March morning. He arrived before sunrise, hoping to photograph a colony of beavers. But as he hiked through the woods, he soon met a different wild visitor.
“When I was walking, I saw a big [gray] stone in front of me that I just ignored,” Luther wrote on Instagram. “Suddenly, [he] moved, and I realized that [he] was a seal in the middle of the forest. I couldn’t believe my eyes.”
Luther was stunned by the seal pup’s presence and quickly dropped to the ground to avoid any confrontation.
“I laid down as soon as I realized that it was a seal and hoped to remain unseen,” Luther told The Dodo.
But the photographer wasn’t as inconspicuous as he’d hoped. The curious seal sensed his presence right away and crawled over to get a closer look.
“He started towards me, and when [he] was too close for me to stay hidden, I talked to the seal to make him aware of me when he was still a few meters away,” Luther said. “I’d like to think that it would have been much more scary for him to spot me once he was right next to me.”
The seal pup didn’t seem scared at all, though. He got as close to Luther as possible, sniffing him until he was satisfied with his investigation.
You can watch their encounter here:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DH1JkQSKRKe/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=14&wp=810&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedodo.com&rp=%2Fdaily-dodo%2Fwildlife-photographer-jumps-after-a-gray-stone-in-woods-starts-breathing#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A5064.5%2C%22ls%22%3A1395.9000000059605%2C%22le%22%3A4958.0999999940395%7D
Luther stayed still on the ground while the seal pup checked him out for around 35 minutes. In between sniffs, the seal pup took breaks to look at the distant sea. Then, when he was satisfied with his investigation, the pup scooted over to the water.
On the shore, Luther remained stunned by the encounter. He waited around for the beavers he’d initially hoped to photograph, but they never appeared. Still, he had plenty of footage of the baby seal who’d now made his way back home to the ocean.
“I’ve been told afterwards that they have an excellent sense of smell, which is likely how he knew where to go,” Luther said. “I watched from further away as he kept crawling. It took him about 20 minutes to reach the first muddy water, which would later connect to a bigger body of water. That’s when I was sure he’d made it all the way, and I left.”
Luther left the forest that day with a camera roll filled with footage of a baby he never planned on encountering and a memory that will last a lifetime.
“This is a meeting that I will never forget,” Luther said. “I’ve had a few encounters like this one, but it’s easily in my top three experiences as a wildlife photographer.”
To keep up with Patrik Luther’s wildlife encounters, you can follow him on Instagram.
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Dog Abandoned On Hiking Trail Waits 5 Days For His Family To Return
They never came back for him.
When a dog named Raymond was brought to a hiking trail in Michigan earlier this month, he probably thought he was about to go on a fun walk. Instead, he was dumped there all by himself and watched his caretakers leave without him.
“Day after day, for five long days, he sat on a pile of wood chips overlooking the parking lot, waiting for his ‘family’ to come back,” The KG Foundation wrote on TikTok.
Hikers started noticing the abandoned pup and realized he was in trouble. One woman even tried to trap Raymond herself, but he wouldn’t get anywhere near her.
“When people approached him trying to help, he would run away and disappear, only to come back to his wood chip pile, patiently waiting for his people,” The KG Foundation said.
Realizing she couldn’t save Raymond by herself, the woman reached out to The KG Foundation for assistance. Jordan Covington, founder of The KG Foundation, arrived at the park prepared for a days-long rescue mission.
But as soon as she held out food for Raymond to sniff, he just walked right up to her. He was starving and defeated from the five days he’d spent surviving on his own.
After a brief hold at animal control to confirm no one was looking for him, Covington transferred Raymond to a kennel at A ReJoyceful Animal Rescue funded by her foundation. When Raymond arrived at the shelter, he noticed another dog and did something Covington had never seen him do before: wag his tail.
“It was the first time I saw his little butt wiggle, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, thank God, because he was really just a shell of a dog,’” Covington told The Dodo.
Unfortunately, soon after arriving at the shelter, Raymond came down with a nasty case of pneumonia. He had to be transferred to a veterinary hospital and put on oxygen. But thanks to the quick thinking of his rescuers, Raymond responded well to treatment and is feeling much better.
Just days ago, Covington witnessed another one of Raymond’s firsts when he picked up a toy and played with it.
“He’s been super brave with meeting new people,” Covington said. “He’s been really friendly and wagging his tail a lot.”
Raymond is currently available to be fostered, and as soon as he’s fully healed, he’ll be ready for adoption. Covington has been enjoying getting to know Raymond’s sweet personality and is sure he’ll be loved by anyone who meets him.
“I think that he’s going to be just a very sensitive soul and a very sweet guy,” Covington said.
If you’re interested in learning more about Raymond, you can reach out to The KG Foundation on their website. To support The KG Foundation and contribute to Raymond’s medical expenses, you can make a donation here.
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