The most southerly mammal
No other mammal lives so far south all year round.
Antarctic ice
Weddell seal
Leptonychotes weddellii
A plump, grey seal with a small head and a blotchy, spotted coat.
- Size
- About 3m long
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Fast ice round the coast of Antarctica
Shuffles after you across the ice. Move your pointer and see.
When to look
Weddell seal
Good to know
Six things about the weddell seal
Ice saws
It keeps its breathing holes open by scraping at the ice with its teeth.
An hour under the ice
A Weddell seal can stay under for more than an hour, and dive to 600 metres.
Songs under the ice
Under water it makes strange whistles, chirps and booms that can be heard through the ice.
A fast-growing pup
A pup doubles its weight in about ten days on its mother's rich milk.
No fear of people
With no land hunters in Antarctica, Weddell seals barely look up when people walk past.
The real thing
Photos of the weddell seal
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Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
How to spot one
Look for dark, slug-like shapes lying beside cracks in the sea ice. They often lie on their sides and sleep.
How to help
Weddell seals are doing well. The Antarctic Treaty protects them, and keeping the continent free of mining and oil drilling keeps it that way.
Keep going