Leopard seal: the top of the Antarctic food chain (11 photos)

Everything is clear at the North Pole, where ferocious polar bears and huge walruses rule. But who reigns at the South Pole? Do you think that only cute penguins sit on ice floes there? No! Meet the leopard seal - the main predator of Antarctica and a real Jack the Ripper!





The leopard seal is an animal of quite impressive dimensions. Their 4 meters in length and 600 kilograms in weight only seem "streamlined" in photographs. In fact, it's a huge machine with a bunch of sharp teeth and a bad temper.



Swapped places.

If you're lucky, you can meet a sea ripper in Antarctica. And if you're unlucky, you can meet one in Australia, South America, South Africa, and New Zealand. Why not? Because the eternally hungry leopards have an inflated sense of self-importance and not the best eyesight. And the latter is not their problem!





I can't see who you are, but get in my mouth.

The pinniped will attack anything that even slightly resembles prey. For example, if you stand near water on the shore, ice floe or boat, the beast can easily bite your leg. This happened to a Scottish explorer in 1985. The seal tried to pull him off the ice floe twice by grabbing his leg, until it received a magical kick in the face with a heavy hiking boot.



The whole family calms down a cat whose tail was accidentally stepped on.

In the water, the beast can more easily understand that a well-equipped person is not the healthiest food, so some desperate researchers risk diving next to the leopard and filming it. They say they even pose! But even in the native element of the pinniped, incidents happen. The only case of a person dying from a leopard seal happened in the water. The beast grabbed a girl who was swimming near the shore - the predator dragged the woman into the depths and drowned her.



— Filming? Hmm... So, if humanity does not give us all the fish reserves, then we will start killing hostages.

Fortunately, people are not included in the diet of the unbalanced pinniped. After all, the favorite hobby of these beasts is to play with food. True, for the prey, these amusements are more reminiscent of torture: the leopard throws the victim's body back and forth across the ocean. And then eats this cutlet with pleasure. This helps the animal divide the food into convenient pieces.



This beast would be perfect for the role of a villain in some cartoon about penguins.

A leopard can dismantle anyone for parts: fish, birds, sea lions and seals. Absolutely everyone who was born in the waters of the South Pole is on the pinniped maniac's list. Only killer whales can curb their ardor. But even they prefer not to mess with him - it's not worth it for themselves.



Did you forget your head at home?!

Leopards hunt large prey, like emperor penguins or pinnipeds, together. Previously, it was believed that these predators were exclusively solitary, but recent studies show that cooperation gives them two advantages at once. Firstly, one toothy head is good, but two are better. A pair of super predators of the ocean, having united, increases the chance of a successful hunt. Secondly, it is much easier to cut up the prey together. Leopards' teeth are not suitable for chewing, they can only kill. That is why they throw food across the ocean. But if they work together, then one animal holds the food, and the other eats. And then vice versa.



A typical quarrel between two lovers over the last piece of pizza.

The leopard skims the cream off all tiers of the food pyramid — the pinniped even hunts krill! The seal catches microscopic crustaceans not with deadly fangs, but with its molars. They look like the works of a master carver. Patterned depressions, intricate passages — but all this is not for beauty, but for filtration. It takes water into its mouth, releases it through the cracks in its teeth, and the krill remains in its mouth — like in a cage. Whales hunt in a similar way, passing water through their whiskers.



However, only adult specimens are capable of terrorizing the entire Antarctic food chain. In winter, krill go to the bottom and can be reached by diving 300 meters deep! Young specimens can spend only 7 minutes without oxygen - this is not enough to filter water for long.

Leopards give up their manic behavior only for the sake of reproduction. It all starts in the Antarctic summer, that is, our winter, when the males scream loudly underwater. Their songs sound like something between a cricket and an owl's hoot, only much louder - so that as many females as possible can hear the serenade. And each toothy romantic has his own special song!



I got ready for a date: I went to the barber, trimmed my mustache. How do you like the result?

But that's where it all ends: no alimony, no moral support! After 9 months of pregnancy, the female is left with a newborn hungry baby on flippers. Well, as a baby, a newborn puppy weighs 30 kg.



You're already five weeks old, when will you finally move out?!

Leopard seals are excellent hunters, but their parents are lousy. The caring mother arranges the birth right on the ice: the female simply makes a hole and that's it - the cradle is ready. And the cub is taken away from the breast a month after birth, after which the lady immediately goes to start a new romance! Well, how can you not get angry at the whole world and become an alpha predator after such a childhood?