Leopard Seal: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Seals and Sea Lions · day 2 of 7

Five facts

1. Male leopard seals make five distinctive sounds, including trills and a hoot, and arrange them into their own songs.
2. A leopard seal's back teeth interlock like a strainer, so it can filter tiny krill out of the water.
3. Hunting underwater, a leopard seal follows its prey by listening and by feeling with its whiskers.
4. Most leopard seals spend the whole year on the pack ice, alone. The exception is a mother with her newborn pup.
5. Female leopard seals can be up to 50% larger than males.

The quiz

1. How many distinctive sounds do male leopard seals make?

• Five (correct)
• Two
• Nine
• Twelve

Males make five distinctive sounds and arrange them into songs.

2. What do a leopard seal's locking molars let it do?

• Crack open shellfish
• Grind up seaweed
• Sieve krill from the water (correct)
• Dig through ice

Their molars lock together to sieve krill from the water.

3. What does a leopard seal use to track prey underwater?

• Its sense of smell
• Its hearing and whiskers (correct)
• Bright lights
• Electric pulses

It tracks prey with its hearing and whiskers.

4. When is a leopard seal not solitary?

• During the winter
• When it builds a nest
• When resting on land
• When a mother has a newborn pup (correct)

Most live alone, except a mother and her newborn pup.

5. How much larger can female leopard seals be than males?

• Up to 5%
• Up to 10%
• Up to 50% (correct)
• Up to 200%

Females can be up to 50% larger than males.

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