#12: Roland, the 4000 Pound Elephant Seal Being Bathed in Snow, Berlin Zoo, 1930s

Technically, I suppose there’s nothing really remarkable about this photo in the historical sense. That is if you consider a 4,000-pound elephant seal receiving a snow bath to be unremarkable. I suppose it’s something you probably wouldn’t see in many modern zoos. It basically just looks like a person talking to an elephant seal on the street.

Zoos have undergone many iterations over the years, and it’s possible that the current one is the best. Aside from seeming to be a lot less cruelty-based today, it’s also pretty good news that we stopped locking up humans in zoos, though perhaps a little too recently.