🦭Weddell seal
The Weddell seal is a relatively large and abundant true seal with a circumpolar distribution surrounding Antarctica. The Weddell seal was discovered and named in the 1820s during expeditions led by British sealing captain James Weddell to the area of the Southern Ocean now known as the Weddell Sea. The life history of this species is well documented since it occupies fast ice environments close to the Antarctic continent and often adjacent to Antarctic bases. It is the only species in the genus Leptonychotes.
Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
IUCN Red List assessment, 2026.
- Body mass
- 411 kg
- Body length
- 2.75 m
- Shoulder height
- not recorded
- Top speed
- not recorded
- Bite force
- not recorded
- Maximum lifespan
- 25 years
Everything we know about the Weddell seal
Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.
Body mass411 kgrecord 450 kg · SeaLifeBaseCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Record: largest individual on record
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 425 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: low
Body length2.75 mCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
By sex
- Female3.3 mSeaLifeBasev25.04
Figures vary
- 2.9 mSeaLifeBasev25.04
Brain mass571 gCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Maximum lifespan25 yearsCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Generation length11 yearsCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Age at maturity4.3 yearsCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Gestation312 daysCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 304 daysAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: low
Litter size1COMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 1AnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: low
Trophic levelOmnivoreCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Activity cycleCrepuscular / mixedCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Population density0.12 per km²COMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Volume l411 LaverageDetails ↓Hide ↑
Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.
average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.
Not recorded for Weddell seal yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.
Family tree
- kingdomAnimalia
- ›phylumChordata
- ›classMammalia
- ›orderCarnivora
- ›familyPhocidae
- ›genusLeptonychotes
- ›speciesLeptonychotes weddellii
- classMammals · Mammalia
- orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
- familyPhocidae
- genusLeptonychotes
All 14 branches ↓Fewer branches ↑
- kingdomMetazoa
- phylumChordata
- subphylumCraniata
- subphylumVertebrata
- superclassGnathostomata
- superclassSarcopterygii
- superclassTetrapoda
- classMammals · Mammalia
- subclassTheria
- superorderLaurasiatheria
- orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
- suborderCaniformia
- familyPhocidae
- genusLeptonychotes
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