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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

remarkable Leopard Seal behaviour (1 Viewer)

i've heard of them doing that before. very strange habit though.

they really give me the creeps, I remember seeing one at taronga zoo and there was something about the head and face that I didn't like. I'll jump in the water with most things for a picture but that would give me serious pause for thought.
 
Wow that's amazing - I think coz he was so weeny in comparison to her she was trying to fatten him up!! ;) Still gutted about missing that one in NZ....
 
Animals behave strangely... lots of things cannot be really explained until you believe that animals are more clever and sensitive than officaly given credit for.

Actually, I never seen a proven zoological explanation why some cats bring dead mice to their masters.

Killer whales which hunt baby sealions were seen, after being satiated, bring baby sealions back to the shore and releasing them unharmed.
 
James Blake said:
http://www.asylum.co.uk/2009/11/17/friendly-leopard-seal-feeds-photographer-penguins/

Leopard Seals can be quite dangerous to humans, but here one tries to feed penguins to a photographer.
Click to expand...


What information do you have to indicate this danger? There has been two, perhaps three incidents of leopard seals killing humans, yet tens of thousands of seal/human interactions with no dangerous incidents. My experience with leopard seals is that they are a "cat-like" predator. They will kill but they are generally curious. Further when you consider that leopard seals eat 50%+ of their diet in the form of krill (at least Antarctic populations) and their largest prey is young crabeater seals, I think it is unfair to say leopard seals can be quite dangerous to humans.
 
Human-centric attitude: humans kill thousands of (insert species here) - OK, (insert species here) kills one human, dangerous man-eater.

Doesn't matter whether species was protecting its young, defending its territory, rounding on its pursuers, maddened by human-inflicted injury, elderly and disabled, reacting normally to prey-type stimuli or biting blind in muddy water.

John
 
Hi guys

No I wasn't meaning to imply that these seals attack humans on anything more than an occasional basis, or that the danger they pose to us can be compared to the danger we pose to them, for instance as agents of climate change.

But I think it's interesting to note how a species that seems to very occasionally treat us as prey (and why not? you can't blame them if one of them sees us as simply another edible mammal) is also capable of this kind of parental/playful behaviour towards a diver.

There's some discussion of Leopard Seal/human interactions here:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/08/0806_030806_sealkiller.html

Brightonbirder, as you obviously know a bit about these animals, I'd be interested in your views of Ian Boyd's speculations in the article. Do you think he's being alarmist?

cheers
James
 
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I have to admit, seeing a Leopard Seal "playing"/ interacting in this way with a human, astonished me. The only experiences I've had with Leopard Seals, around the Antarctic Pen, really brought to the fore that humans are basically prey for a lot of species ( when we are unarmed! ). Leopard Seals are scary buggers when you get a close look into their eyes - completley dead, like a sharks!
Chris
 
James Blake said:
Hi guys

There's some discussion of Leopard Seal/human interactions here:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/08/0806_030806_sealkiller.html

Brightonbirder, as you obviously know a bit about these animals, I'd be interested in your views of Ian Boyd's speculations in the article. Do you think he's being alarmist?

cheers
James
Click to expand...

I think the article perpurtrates at least one myth that leopard seals attack people. The report of a seal jumping out of the water is likely created to sell newspapers/books and increase the stature of the explorer. This over-telling of tales occurred on a regular basis amongst (antarctic) explorers.

I also believe that leopard seals rarely, if ever, attack and kill southern elephant seals. Even the youngest pups are enoromous and likely cannot be taken by a leopard seal. Remember again that the main food items are #1 - krill weighing about 1 gram, #2 - penguins weinging perhaps 15 pounds, and #3 - < 3 (?) month old crab eater seals. Depredation of young crabeater seals seem to be extensive, as indicated by tooth scars on older seals. I have never heard of Ross seal being a prey item though.

In general leopard seals seem to be quite comfortable with humans and perhaps are becoming increasingly so. Some divers are filming and photographing these animals with no incidents beyond what appears to be curiousity. Doug Allen and others at BBC have filmed them and Phil Nicklen has done extensive photography.

I would not encourage anybody to "play" with these animals but I do not think we need to fear them, treat them with respect and be aware of them. I have had many leopard seals investigate me and my boat but never a problem. I have also had humpback and dwarf minke whales investigate me, never to ill effect. Massive predators may be curious but they are often selective in their prey and curious otherwise.
 
BrightonBirder said:
Depredation of young crabeater seals seem to be extensive, as indicated by tooth scars on older seals.
Click to expand...

Actually if you think about this statement it suggests that failed predation on young Crabeater Seals is frequent. That backs up the suggestion that smaller prey are the most important part of the menu.

John
 
BrightonBirder said:
I think the article perpurtrates at least one myth that leopard seals attack people. The report of a seal jumping out of the water is likely created to sell newspapers/books and increase the stature of the explorer. This over-telling of tales occurred on a regular basis amongst (antarctic) explorers.

I also believe that leopard seals rarely, if ever, attack and kill southern elephant seals. Even the youngest pups are enoromous and likely cannot be taken by a leopard seal. Remember again that the main food items are #1 - krill weighing about 1 gram, #2 - penguins weinging perhaps 15 pounds, and #3 - < 3 (?) month old crab eater seals. Depredation of young crabeater seals seem to be extensive, as indicated by tooth scars on older seals. I have never heard of Ross seal being a prey item though.

In general leopard seals seem to be quite comfortable with humans and perhaps are becoming increasingly so. Some divers are filming and photographing these animals with no incidents beyond what appears to be curiousity. Doug Allen and others at BBC have filmed them and Phil Nicklen has done extensive photography.

I would not encourage anybody to "play" with these animals but I do not think we need to fear them, treat them with respect and be aware of them. I have had many leopard seals investigate me and my boat but never a problem. I have also had humpback and dwarf minke whales investigate me, never to ill effect. Massive predators may be curious but they are often selective in their prey and curious otherwise.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. James
 
Just to clarify, off the top of my head younger Leopards mostly prey on krill, while older animals typically prey on vertebrate prey. Having handled leopard seal skulls I can certainly vouch that their skulls are well adapted to tackling large prey items, being robust and having a rather nasty set of dentition. Those adaptations are unique among all pinnipeds, even pinnipeds which on occasion will take birds or even other seals as prey.
 
Mysticete said:
Just to clarify, off the top of my head younger Leopards mostly prey on krill, while older animals typically prey on vertebrate prey. Having handled leopard seal skulls I can certainly vouch that their skulls are well adapted to tackling large prey items, being robust and having a rather nasty set of dentition. Those adaptations are unique among all pinnipeds, even pinnipeds which on occasion will take birds or even other seals as prey.
Click to expand...

I think both ideas are incorrect. If we look at ANtarctic Leopards they feed opportunistly, eating penguins leaving the rookeries and particularly young, inexperienced penguins. Most penguins disperse from the ANtarctic for the winter months and thus this food source disappears, along with the seals. All go to sea. We know little of this season but I imagine leopards are still taking what they can find. As Krill is perhaps the most dominant of organisms (based on mass) then they are likely the best food source for the Leopard. I have not seen anything about differential feeding with age but I am sure there is some, but it is not profound. All ages eat krill, I have watched full grown leopards swimming through krill swarms, straining as they go.

As for dentation I am not sure of the uniqueness. Leopards have large canines (for vertebrates) and cusped molars (for straining). Weddell Seals have large canines (flared forward for creating breathing holes in the ice and grasping) and "regular" molars. Crabeaters also have canines and very cusped molars.
 
Crabeater seals have a much more sieve-like tooth design, and more delicate dentition. They also have a prominent ridge on the lower mandible which acts to prevent strained food from slipping out. The postcanine cusps are also more rounded than that present in Leopard Seals

Leopard seals are also unique among pinnipeds in having unusually robust incisors (for gripping large prey) and much larger long and sharper cusps to their postcanine teeth). Skull and palate shape is also different, although subtly so between the two. These features are all pointed out and illustrated in Adam and Berta 2002. The above authors also hypothesize that filter-feeding is probably ancestral to leopard seals, so some of the similarities in tooth appearance probably stem from this.

I was incorrect in my statement on age difference in krill feeding on pinnipeds, at least from the sources I have at home. I have heard something about this before though, so maybe I can find a cite (it might be the proportion of krill in the diet changes through time). This might come from isotope research, but again I would have to double check references in the lab.
 
Farnboro John said:
Actually if you think about this statement it suggests that failed predation on young Crabeater Seals is frequent. That backs up the suggestion that smaller prey are the most important part of the menu.

John
Click to expand...

true - although the same analysis could be applied to white sharks and cape fur seals. Lots of seals carry scars but the whites still do ok.
 
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