Hydrurga leptonyx
Silhouette: Margot Michaud · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx), also referred to as the sea leopard, is a long and muscular seal native to the Southern Ocean of Antarctica and southern Patagonia. It is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the southern elephant seal). It is the same length as, but half the weight of, a walrus. Its fur coat is countershaded, being silver on the bottom and dark gray on the top, and is distinctive for its leopard-like pattern of dark spots.
The leopard seal is an apex predator, with massive jaws, and teeth which are 2.5 cm (1 in) long. It feeds on a wide range of prey including its fellow pinnipeds, cephalopods, krill, fish, and birds, particularly penguins. Its only natural predator is the orca. It uses its hearing and whiskers to track prey underwater.
It is the only species in the genus Hydrurga. Its closest relatives are the Ross seal, the crabeater seal, and the Weddell seal, which are all Antarctic seals of the tribe Lobodontini. Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville, a French zoologist, described the leopard seal in 1820 from a stuffed specimen from the collection of one M. Hauville, in Le Havre. The skin that produced... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auckland | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taronga Zoo | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Leopard Seal sighting in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, based on 19 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 29th most-seen of the 39 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Leopard Seal in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to June, the lowest months. Those are among Table Mountain National Park's wettest months, with about 85 mm of rain a month against 15 mm in February.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Leopard Seal sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Leopard Seal sightings, Table Mountain National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Great Otway National Park (Australia, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Leopard Seal is recorded against all the mammals logged in Table Mountain National Park (19 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
