Attacks On People
Leopard seals are potentially highly dangerous towards humans, but attacks are rarely reported. Examples of aggressive behaviour, stalking and attacks have been documented. Notable incidents include:
- A large leopard seal attacked Thomas Orde-Lees (1877–1958), a member of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917 when the expedition was camping on the sea ice. A large "sea leopard" of about 12 ft (3.7 m) long and 1,100 lb (500 kg) chased Orde-Lees on the ice. He was saved only when another member of the expedition shot the animal.
- In 1985, Scottish explorer Gareth Wood was bitten twice on the leg when a leopard seal tried to drag him off the ice and into the sea. His companions managed to save him by repeatedly kicking the animal in the head with the spiked crampons on their boots.
- In 2003, a leopard seal dragged snorkeling biologist Kirsty Brown of the British Antarctic Survey nearly 200 ft (61 m) underwater to her death, in what was identified as the first known human fatality from a leopard seal.
Leopard seals have shown a particular predilection for attacking the black, torpedo-shaped pontoons of rigid inflatable boats, necessitating researchers to equip their craft with special protective guards to prevent them from being punctured.
Read more about this topic: Leopard Seal
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