Weddell Seal
Leptonychotes weddellii · Mammal
A big seal of the Antarctic fast ice, 2.5 to 3.5 m long and 400 to 600 kg, that keeps its breathing holes open by grinding the ice with its teeth. It dives to 600 m and stays down up to an hour, hunting fish, prawns and squid, mostly at night; orcas and leopard seals hunt it. Slow and humping on the ice, it was hunted for food and oil in the early days of Antarctic exploration, until its numbers fell sharply; it is still often killed for dog food.
- Danger
- Dangerous if cornered
- How it is met
- In colonies, by night
- Size
- Large
- In winter
- Active in winter
Where it lives
Gives
Weddell Seal Meat, Weddell Seal Blubber
Sources
- Omari J. Bayi, Leptonychotes weddellii (Weddell seal). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, 2000.
- Weddell seal. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2026.
- Phoque de Weddell. Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre, 2026.
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