A leopard seal has a spotted coat. That is how it got its name. It lives mostly on and around the pack ice of Antarctica. It has a large head and big jaws. Its front flippers are long. Its body is made for speed.

The leopard seal is second largest of the Antarctic seals. Female leopard seals are larger than male leopard seals. A female is about 2.9 to 3.6 metres long. A male is about 2.8 to 3.3 metres long. Males weigh up to about 300 kilograms. The largest females weigh about 500 kilograms.

Leopard seals eat penguins, fish and squid. They also eat the pups of other kinds of seals. Most of the food a leopard seal eats is caught in the water. A leopard seal has unusual teeth for straining krill from the water.

A mother leopard seal gives birth to a single pup on the sea ice. Pups are usually born in November and December. They are born on the ice. A pup at birth weighs about 30 kilograms or more. A pup is nursed for about four weeks.

Words to know

• flippers: swim limbs
• krill: tiny sea animals
• nursed: fed milk