The leopard seal is the second largest of the Antarctic seals. It is named for its spotted coat. Its body is silver to dark grey on top. It has a large head, big jaws and very long canine teeth. It has a slender body and long front flippers, designed for speed. Female leopard seals are larger than male leopard seals. Adult females are about 2.9 to 3.6 metres long. Adult males are about 2.8 to 3.3 metres long. An average male weighs about 320 kilograms, and the largest females weigh about 500 kilograms.

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

Scientists tagged 22 leopard seals off the Western Antarctic Peninsula to follow their dives and travels. As of November 2026, that study found that the tagged seals dived on average to about 30 metres and for about three minutes. As of November 2026, the deepest and longest dive recorded for a leopard seal was 1,256 metres deep and lasted 25 minutes. As of November 2026, one tagged seal travelled only 46 km from where it was tagged, and another travelled about 1,700 km. Two tagged adult female leopard seals spent two weeks on ice in the middle of the ocean. Some leopard seals travel far north of Antarctica, and sightings include Tasmania.

Leopard seals live mostly on and around the pack ice of Antarctica, in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters. They usually live alone. A mother leopard seal gives birth to a single pup on the sea ice. Pups are usually born in November and December. A newborn pup weighs about 30 kilograms or more. It is nursed for about four weeks. Leopard seals may live for 26 years or more.

Words to know

• tagged: marked to track
• krill: tiny sea animals
• flippers: swim limbs
• slender: thin