Antarctic Thesaurus

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leopard seal

There was the occasional Leopard seal. One day we noticed penguins lined up along the ice shelf, about ten-foot high over the sea and would not enter. There was a leopard seal waiting. Dennis Brophy and myself decided that we would capture the seal. Dennis tied some meat on a rope and I had a lasso. We walked the edge of the ice flow into the bay; Dennis dangled the meat in the water calling here seally. I stood next to him with my lasso. In an instant a huge head what looked to be 3 feet long with a mouth open and full of huge Triple Crown teeth. It had no neck, just a wedge shape from the tip of its nose to its tail which looked to be at least 15 foot long and weigh about 600 pounds, it was huge and reared up level with my head. There was no way this thing could be lassoed. I can't imagine what we were thinking of. We ran as fast as we could in our mucluks and bulky clothes. The seal took no notice of the bait, shot out of the water and came after us. He could move fast on the ice. Dennis and I were very careful not to slip over. We ran for the shore and the safety of the rocks. The seal circled us several times flopping itself up and down and growling, then gave up, headed back to the water taking with it, our meat, rope and my lasso.

Geoffrey Williams, 2007

Geoffrey Williams was a radio operator at Casey in 1964:

The wintering party comprised 24 expeditioners. In March, eight of the party, using mechanised transport, conducted glaciological and geophysical research at an ice dome 110 km south-east of the station. In November another party made observations in the Vanderford Glacier area on the route to Cape Folger.

Australian Antarctic Data Centre 2007

I was trembling with excitement when I reached the wheezing seal without disturbing him. Wasting no time, I lunged fiercely at its neck...but the blade, hitting the tough skin at an angle, sheered off and buried itself in the snow beside him. With a startled hiss the leopard seal sprang to life, jerking his sinuous body head violently upwards and making a lightning snap with its hideous jaws that barely missed my thigh. In the flurry of the action I breathed in a chestful of the seal's foul breath, and the vilent stench made me almost vomit.

Retreating a couple of yeards nearer the sea, I poised my spear again, but more in defiance than attack...Suddenly the seal jerked towards me. With a nervous prod I forced the blade against the leathery neck. This made him pull up sharp and raise his hideous head to look more closey at me. The dark eyes, cold and cruel as the Antarctic Ocean depths, stared hard as if searching for a weak spot in my defense.

While he was still eyeing me so, a made another violent thrust with the whole of my 200 pounds behind the blade. The steel made contact, and for a split second the blade bent like a bow... then I felt the skin yield, and the leopard seal was bubbling frothy red blood all over the cool, clear ice blocks. Paralsed from the neck downwards, the animal quickly died.

p. 161, Twelve Came Back, Peter Lancaster Brown. Pub. 1957, Robert Hale Ltd. London