The leopard seal is one species that always ranks highly on the wishlist to see for travellers to Antarctica, and an encounter with one on an ice floe is always memorable. In this guide, we explain everything you need to know about leopard seals, and seeing them on an Antarctic expedition cruise.
Introducing the leopard seal
Leopard seals are one of Antarctica’s top predators, and are second only to the orca in the Antarctic food chain. They are one of the largest seal species, with males measuring up to 3.1 m (11 feet) in length and females even larger at 3.8 m (12.5 feet). They are instantly recognisable on ice floes for their massive snake-like head and long neck, and their name comes from their grey spotted coat
Leopard seals have a great propensity to yawn, and in doing so they can open their mouths nearly 160º, flashing any observers a good look at their fearsome set of teeth. Though ungainly on land like all true seals, this sleepy warning is a potent reminder that once in the water they are no friends to any penguins in the vicinity. Swimming leopard seals are very graceful, and can often be seen sticking their heads out of the water to inspect the ice for penguins, or to look with curiosity at anyone passing in a zodiac.
Leopard seals are a circumpolar species and can be found in every part of Antarctica’s coast. They are resident at South Georgia and can be found wherever there is ice, including parts of New Zealand and Patagonia as far north as Chile’s San Rafael glacier.
Tagging of leopard seals using small animal-borne sensors has shown that they spend less than a third of their time on land or ice, and most of their time at sea. A study of leopard seals at Bird Island in South Georgia showed that while most seals were content with staying close to the range where they haul out, they regularly swam between 300–500 km (185–310 miles) to feed, with one individual making a voyage of 1,950 km (1,212 miles) to the Antarctic pack ice.
What do leopard seals eat?
Only orcas outrank leopard seals in the Antarctic hunting stakes, and as a rule penguins are their most favoured meal. Seeing a leopard seal catch a penguin is to see nature at its rawest – before eating it, a leopard seal will generally thrash the penguin in the water to separate its blubber-rich skin from its body – often just eating the skin and leaving the rest for scavengers like petrels and skuas.
Other prey items are far smaller (and less photogenic for visitors). If you were to look into the mouth of a yawning leopard seal, you’d find their rear molars have evolved to act as filters, since a mouthful of krill can be as tasty as a penguin and a lot less bother to catch. Krill and fish can make up a sizable part of a leopard seal’s diet, along with the pups of other seals.
Recent research has shown that although leopard seals eat broadly as a species, individual animals can be highly specialised in their diets, and target specific prey items. By analysing discarded leopard seal whiskers, scientists have shown that some seals, particularly large females, concentrate their efforts at the top of the food chain by eating penguins or fur seal pups, while smaller seals, including many males, forage more on fish, squid and krill.
The effects of this specialisation can be dramatic. At Cape Shirreff on Livingstone Island in the South Shetlands, just 20 leopard seals were shown to drive a catastrophic drop in fur seal numbers, with 70% of all fur seal pups being lost to predation. While fur seals numbers have increased dramatically across the Antarctic Peninsula in recent decades, these interactions show their numbers may often be capped locally by the presence of leopard seals.
Are leopard seals dangerous?
Leopard seals carry something of a dangerous reputation. This is thanks in part to the accounts of explorers from the ‘Heroic Era’ of Antarctic exploration – a time that also coincided with the European vogue for big game hunting in Africa and elsewhere. Sea leopards, as they were then known, were mistrusted for the way they would stick their heads above the water to study the visitors to their kingdom. Their immense size didn’t help: a fully-grown female can be as long as two men of average height. A leopard seal was even chosen as the chief villain of the film Happy Feet.
In the entire history of human interactions with leopard seals, there has been only one recorded fatality, which took place in 2003 when the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) diver Kirsty Brown was tragically grabbed and drowned by one while snorkelling. Over 30 years of diving data from BAS has shown the likelihood of any leopard seal interaction to be around 1 in 200 dives – and the chance of any injury to be around 1 in 9,000 dives.
Other divers have had other types of encounters. In one celebrated incident, the wildlife cameraman Paul Nicklen, was filming a female leopard seal over a number of days while diving only to have it repeatedly offer it gifts of dead penguins. Nevertheless, should any leopard seals be sighted during a snorkelling or diving excursion on an expedition cruise, passengers will not be allowed in the water.
Leopard seal watching in Antarctica
Leopard seals are found along the length of the Antarctic Peninsula, where they will typically be found resting on ice floes. They’re completely solitary, unlike other seals that like to live more communally. The best rule of thumb for finding leopard seals is to look for the nearest penguin rookery: to put it simply, they like to hang out close to wherever they can find lunch. This makes locations with large rookeries of gentoo penguins like Cuverville Island, Danco Island, Pleneau Island, Petermann Island and Neko Harbour all good sites for finding leopard seals.
Leopard seals are also found in South Georgia, though sightings are relatively rare. If you do spot one, it will likely be swimming close to shore where there are penguins (in March 2025, staff at the South Georgia Museum were surprised by a highly unusual sighting of a juvenile leopard seal in Grytviken).
For visitors to Antarctica, most leopard seal encounters take place during a zodiac cruise. As with all wildlife in Antarctica, the guide will keep a minimum of five metres (15 feet) from the animal, though at any sign of disturbance – which for a leopard seal means more than a raised head – they will retreat further. In the exciting event of spotting a female leopard seal with a pup, a minimum distance of 25 metres (75 feet) must be maintained.
Leopard seals can also be encountered while they are in the water. They show a natural curiosity and may stick their heads above the water to watch you, and swim around a zodiac or even a kayak to check you out. This is usually done in a playful manner, as if to demonstrate that while they might look tank-like on land, they’re as graceful as a ballet dancer when they’re swimming. Expedition guides are well-trained in leopard seal behaviour, and should an animal show signs of being disturbed by your presence, such as biting a zodiac pontoon, they will quietly and safely withdraw.
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