Naturally aggressive to humans, Antarctic Fur Seals will attack without provocation.
They also carry a bacteria in their mouth that can cause a very severe, antibiotic resistant infection. The night before we encountered our first Fur Seals, the expedition team presented a slide show with graphic photos of Fur Seal bites. That reminded me of the old army "Don't let this happen to you" films. Seeing these photos (and knowing that a fur seal bite could lead to amputation) definitely made us all more cautious when going ashore. Yes, some Fur Seals did charge each time we encountered them. A number of people actually felt the need to beat them off with their hiking poles. I personally found that in most cases the Fur Seals would stop a charge if you verbally scolded them. Nevertheless, in extreme cases, I did sometimes also have to wave my camera bag in their direction to discourage them.
Fortunately, it wasn't breeding season during which the large males are EXTREMELY aggressive and can make going ashore too dangerous for humans. It is not unheard of for beach landings to be impossible because of the presence of too many large males on a beach.

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