A Leopard Seal Attacked a Weddell Seal Near a Ukrainian Station in Antarctica: Unique Video

According to glavcom.ua: An unusual guest visited the Ukrainian Antarctic station - a leopard seal. For more than 20 minutes, it tried to get to a Weddell seal that was lying on the ice floe. This was reported by

Glavkom

citing the scientific center's page on Facebook.

The incident occurred during field research. Biologist Zoya Shvydkaya captured a rare and captivating moment when the large marine predator attempted several times over 20 minutes to climb onto the ice floe where the young seal was resting. Throughout this time, the Weddell seal carefully observed the leopard but remained in place.

Possible Reasons for the Leopard Seal's Behavior

The leopard was not very pleased with such attention, but it did not back down. Experts have several theories about why the animal behaved this way.

Although leopard seals also belong to the seal family, some of them prey on their 'relatives'. For example, young Weddell seals, like the one on the ice floe. So perhaps the leopard wanted to catch itself a meal. Another possibility is that it wanted to 'muscle in' on the ice floe from the seal

, they explained at the Ukrainian Antarctic Center.

The Ukrainian Antarctic station witnessed an attempt by a leopard seal to catch a Weddell seal on the ice floe. This unusual episode of nature in these parts piqued the interest of scientists who are trying to unravel the mystery of such behavior from the marine predator. Such cases help to understand nature and the interactions between species in the Antarctic ecosystem.