Leopard Seal Hunt — Antarctic Peninsula
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A leopard seal photographed in the act of penguin predation in Antarctic waters — the apex marine predator at the moment of consummate performance.
Description
The leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx) is the apex predator of the Antarctic surface ice and shallow water zone — a 3.5m, 500kg ambush predator whose primary prey during the summer is Adélie and chinstrap penguins. This photograph, made from a research zodiac at Drake Passage in January, captures a large female in the act of shaking a penguin at the water surface — the high-speed shaking motion that disarticulates the penguin’s skeleton before consumption. This is an extremely rare capture of the complete predation event at photographic quality. The image has been published in the journal of the British Antarctic Survey and is available with full scientific documentation of the event observation.
