An extreme wandering leopard seal, Hydrurga leptonyx, at Pitcairn Island, central South Pacific ...

• Main Authors: Stewart, Brent S., Grove, Jack S.
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Southwestern Pacific Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) Node 2024
• Subjects: Occurrence; Specimen; Antarctic; Hydrurga; New Zealand; Pacific; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Hydrurga leptonyx; Leopard Seal; Leopard Seals; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.15468/kw9evx; https://www.gbif.org/dataset/71c8e9e5-3c7e-48eb-889c-9e364bff3dba

Leopard seals are distributed around the Antarctic continent principally between 50°S and 80°S though they are known to wander even farther north, particularly to Australia, New Zealand, South America, and South Africa, and several sub-Antarctic Islands. Seasonal movements of leopard seals have been correlated with seasonal changes in the distribution of sea ice with seals moving north as sea ice develops in spring and winter and southward toward the Antarctic continent as it melts in late autumn and winter. On August 9, 2013, an emaciated juvenile male leopard seal was observed swimming in Bounty Bay at Pitcairn Island (25°4′S, 130°6′W). It was found ashore at a boat ramp in the bay the next day. Because of the seal’s apparent distress, it was promptly shot and killed humanely by an island police officer and then dumped at sea before any measurements or additional observations could be made. We estimated the seal to be a 10-month-old pup, about 1.8–2 m long. The appearance of this leopard seal at Pitcairn ...