Leopard Seal

The Leopard Seal belongs to the Phocidae family and is the second largest seal, the first being the elephant seal, to inhabit the Antarctic. They are mostly sighted along the coast of Antarctica, southern Australia, Tasmania and South Africa. The Leopard Seal is also seen along the Atlantic coast of South America. The life span of the Leopard Seal is approximately twenty-six years. These keystone predators are hunted down by Orcas, who co exist along with these majestic mammals. The Leopard Seal is large and muscular. The color of an adult Leopard Seal varies from grey on the back, to a lighter shade of grey on the underside, the stomach. It is the whitish spots on the throat region that give them their name, with the similarity drawn to the appearance of the land predator.

The female Leopard Seals are larger than the males, who are also called bulls. The males are approximately 2.8 meters long and can weigh nearly 300 kg. The cows, the females, are around 3 meters long and weigh up to 370 kg! The Leopard Seal swims with the help of its hind limbs. The highly developed fore limbs offer good steering movement in the water. The Leopard seal hunts in shallow water, unlike the Ross seals and the elephant seals. The jaws of the Leopard Seal are very flexible and opens wide enough to accommodate any size of prey. The front teeth are sharp, to tear and rip, while the molars lock, to keep out the water and so as to not allow the prey to escape.

Their eyesight and sense of smell are developed and make them formidable predators in water. Leopard Seals live in the cold waters of the Antarctica and spend most of their time in water; although, in winter, they are spotted on the southern coasts. These other wise solitary creatures only socialize with the intent of mating. The gestation period is nine months and the female gives birth to a single pup in a hole created in the ice. The cow feeds and protects the pup till it is big enough to take good care of itself. The Leopard seal is curious by nature and is also observed playing with the penguins that it has no intentions of devoring! This fact is interesting the light of the large size and formidable hunting techniques the leopard seal employs.

Leopard seals eat mostly fish, squid and krill. They also feed on penguins and crabeater seals. When hunting, they kill by grabbing the prey and shaking it vigorously, beating the body against the surface of the water repeatedly. This is done to ensure that the prey is still or dead prior to ripping the flesh apart. They flip over the prey consistently, to tear the flesh. There are a number of incidents of aggressive behavior and attacks on humans on record. The Leopard seal is also known to puncture inflatable boats and snap at feet through the ice! A Leopard seal is on record with 18 penguins passing through it's digestive system, when the dead specimen was dissected for research. The Leopard seal is slow and clumsy on land and not much of a danger to the penguins.

The predatory nature of the Leopard seal results in a distinct alarm call by penguins, when the hunter is spotted. The call is a warning to the others and a siren to keep away. The mammals are unique to their natural habitat and a beautiful sight to behold on the surroundings of snow. Their movements on land are slow and this is largely so not only because of their size, but also because of the shape of their appendages. Their gait on land too is influenced by the enormous bodies. These gorgeous mammals need to be protected and the major man made issues that are likely to affect the growth of their population include pollution and global warming.