Leopard Seals

The leopard seal is a carnivorous mammal that lives in the frigid Antarctica and sub Antarctic waters, although they have also been spotted on the South African and Australian coastlines. They are one of the largest of the four proper seals that inhabit the Antarctic throughout the year. The other species being the Weddell seal, Ross seal and Crabeater seal.

Leopard seals have distinctive large heads with no ears and are incredibly muscular with immensely strong jaws. They have very long flippers and are a dark grey colour on their heads and a lighter grey below, with a white throat and black spots, hence why they became known as leopard seals. These powerful mammals have long, sharp teeth which they use to great effect when pursuing and eating their prey and with their streamlined bodies, up to 10 ft long, designed for maximum speed and power it is possible to see why they have become the main predator in the Antarctic.

Leopard seals are fierce predators and will hunt Adelie penguins by waiting almost completely submerged in waters at the edge of the ice and grabbing the bird as it enters the ocean. They also eat squid and krill and are the only seal that will hunt and kill other seals, in particular crabeater seals.

They are capable of catching krill by locking their powerful molars together and using them as a sieve. Despite their ferocious reputation, they have never been known to attack humans, unless provoked and as such there is only one recorded death to a human. The leopard seal population is said to be very healthy and as such is in no great danger of extinction. They have successfully managed to escape from commercial hunting due to the inaccessibility of their pack ice habitat.