Leopard seals live mostly on and around the pack ice of Antarctica, in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters, and they usually live alone. Some leopard seals travel far north of Antarctica, and sightings include Tasmania. Leopard seals also haul out, which means they come out of the water, on ice and on land, often preferring ice floes near shore when they are available.
Leopard seals are much more agile in the water than on ice, and water is where they spend much of their time. They can swim at up to about 40 km/h (25 mph) in short bursts. A leopard seal has a slender body, and its long front flippers, which are almost one-third of its body length, are designed for speed.
Leopard seals are ambush hunters. They often wait underwater near an ice shelf for penguins entering the water, and they also eat fish and squid. They catch most of their food in the water.
Krill is an important food for leopard seals, and what a leopard seal eats changes with the season and with how much of each food is nearby.
Leopard seals are the only members of the seal family that regularly eat other seals, and they eat the pups of other kinds of seals. One leopard seal captured near Sydney had eaten a fully grown platypus.
The leopard seal is the second largest of the Antarctic seals. It is named for its spotted coat. A leopard seal has a large head and big jaws, and its canine teeth are up to 2.5 centimetres long.
Female leopard seals are larger than male leopard seals. As of November 2026, one study found adult female leopard seals to be about 1.5 times larger and longer than adult males. As of November 2026, the researchers had also measured an adult female that weighed 540 kg. Separately, the average female leopard seal is about 3.0 metres long and weighs about 370 kilograms.
As of November 2026, scientists had tagged 22 leopard seals off the Western Antarctic Peninsula to follow their dives and travels. In that study, as of November 2026, the tagged seals dived on average to about 30 metres. A dive lasted about three minutes on average. As of November 2026, among the tagged seals, the farthest distance travelled ranged from 46 km to just over 1,669 km. As of November 2026, two tagged adult female leopard seals spent two weeks on ice in the middle of the ocean.
As of November 2026, the deepest and longest dive recorded for a leopard seal was 1,256 metres deep and lasted 25 minutes.
Leopard seals mate in December and early January, and they are believed to mate in the water. 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, and it is nursed for about four weeks. Once weaned, leopard seal pups start hunting krill. Leopard seals may live for 26 years or more.
Words to know
- agile: quick and nimble
- ambush: a hidden wait
- weaned: done nursing
- floes: pieces of ice
