Leopard seals live mostly on and around the pack ice of Antarctica. They live in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters. They usually live alone. Some travel far north of Antarctica, and sightings include Tasmania.

As of November 2026, one study had followed leopard seals with tags. Scientists tagged 22 leopard seals off the Western Antarctic Peninsula. They wanted to follow the dives and travels of the seals.

In that study, the tagged leopard seals dived on average to about 30 metres. A dive lasted about three minutes on average. Leopard seals catch most of their food in the water.

The tags also showed where the seals went. One tagged leopard seal travelled only 46 km from where it was tagged. Two tagged adult female leopard seals spent two weeks on ice in the middle of the ocean.

Leopard seals eat penguins, fish and squid. They also eat the pups of other kinds of seals. Krill is an important food for them, and a leopard seal has unusual teeth for straining krill from the water. What a leopard seal eats changes with the season and with how much of each food is nearby.

Female leopard seals are larger than male leopard seals. The largest females weigh about 500 kilograms. An average male weighs about 320 kilograms. Leopard seals may live for 26 years or more.

Words to know

• tagged: marked to track
• krill: tiny sea animals
• dived: went under water
• metres: unit of length