Lobodon carcinophaga
crabeater seal

The crabeater seal, Lobodon carcinophaga, is primarily found on the coast and pack ice of Antarctica. In the winter months, it may be found on the shores of South America, Australia, South Africa, Tasmania, New Zealand, and various islands surrounding Antarctica. In the winter its range covers about 22 million sq km. (Kooyman 1981, Nowak 1997). (Kooyman, 1981; Nowak, 1997)

The crabeater seal lives on the pack ice and the near freezing water surrounding Antarctica.

After the summer moult, the crabeater seal is dark brown dorsally and grades to blonde ventrally. It has darker brown markings on the back and sides over the paler brown pelage. The flippers are the darkest parts of the body. Its fur slowly changes to blonde throughout the year and it is almost entirely blonde by the summer. In fact it has been called "the white Antarctic seal" (Kooyman 1981). It has a long snout and a fairly slim body compared to other seals. Females are slightly larger on average than males with a length from 216 cm to 241 cm. Males range from 203 cm to 241 cm.

The crabeater seal often has long scars running along the sides of its body. These are most likely inflicted by its major predator, the leopard seal, Hydrurga leptonyx (Siniff and Bengston 1977).

Its teeth are very distinct and have been called "the most complex of any carnivore" (Kooyman 1981). There are several tubercles on each tooth with spaces between them that cut deeply into the tooth. The main cusps of upper and lower teeth fit perfectly together. When the crabeater seal closes its mouth, the only spaces are those between the tubercles. This arrangement probably serves as a sieve through which to strain krill, their primary food source. (Kooyman 1981, Nowak 1997). (Kooyman, 1981; Nowak, 1997; Siniff et al., 1979)

Crabeater seals may be found in large aggregations of up to 1,000 animals, but are usually solitary or in small groups (Siniff 1979). They dive primarily at night and are reported to average 143 daily dives in late February (Nordoy et al. 1995). Once in the water, diving occurs nearly continually for approximately 16 hours. Bengston and Stewart (1992) report several types of diving: foraging dives, traveling dives, and exploratory dives. Most dives are for traveling and are less than a minute long and less than 10 m deep. Foraging dives are slightly deeper, up to 30 m, and appear to very throughout the day, with crepuscular dives being deeper. This is most likely in response to krill distribution. Exploratory dives are the deepest and presumably for navigation as they usually occur just before a traveling or foraging dive. Crabeater seals may use breathing holes created by Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii). Young Weddell seals may even be chased from breathing holes by adult crabeater seals.

At the end of the summer, crabeater seals disperse northward as the ice freezes. It appears that some seals, usually young ones, become disoriented and head farther south over the pack ice. As they are particularly mobile on land for pinnipeds, they may travel hundreds of kilometers inland. These seals almost always die and are well preserved as "mummies" in the ice throughout Antarctica (Stirling and Kooyman 1971). Most seals, however, successfully travel north to oceanic islands, Australia, South America, and even South Africa. (Nordoy, Folkow, and Blix, 1995; Siniff et al., 1979; Stirling and Kooyman, February 1971)

The crabeater seal is probably the fastest pinniped on land, reaching speeds of up to 25 km/hour. When sprinting, it lifts its head high and swings its head from side to side in synchrony with its pelvis. Its foreflippers move alternately across the snow and its hind flippers are lifted off the ground and held together. (Siniff et al., 1979)

The crabeater seal appears to be a misnomer as there is no evidence that it eats crabs. Its primary food is krill, Euphausia superba. It probably also eats other invertebrates. The crabeater seal feeds by swimming through a school of krill with its mouth open, sucking them in and then sieving the water out through its specialized dentition (Kooyman 1981, Nowak 1997). Klages and Cockcroft (1990) report that a captive crabeater seal was able to suck small fish into its mouth at distances of up to 50 cm. They note that this prey is much larger than the krill that it would consume in the wild, and suggest that it could probably suck krill in from a much greater distance. The seal preferred fish smaller than 12 cm and swallowed everything whole, in contrast to many seals which tear their food up with their teeth before swallowing. It was often observed exploring the bottom of its pool and sucking up debris. Klages and Cockcroft suggest that this is an adaption to winter feeding on krill in the Antarctic. At this time of year, krill is mainly found in crevices and caverns. The seal may be able to suck the krill out from these unreachable areas. Feeding probably occurs prinicipally at night (Nowak 1997). (Klages and Cockcroft, 1990; Kooyman, 1981; Nowak, 1997)

When the crabeater seal is approached it snorts, hisses, and bares its teeth. If caught, it rolls over several times. This is probably an avoidance tactic developed for its primary predators, the killer whale (Orcinus orca) and the leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx) (Stirling and Kooyman 1971). (Stirling and Kooyman, February 1971)

Commercial fisheries have expressed interest in exploiting Antarctica's krill resources. As this is the primary food of the crabeater seal, there are bound to be negative consequences associated with the crabeater seal in this budding industry (Nowak 1997). (Nowak, 1997)

Since crabeater seals occupy a habitat that is fairly inaccessible to humans, there has been very little contact between the two species. There is a report, however, that a young crabeater seal found on the coast of South Africa was easily tamed and trained (Klages and Cockcroft 1990). (Klages and Cockcroft, 1990)

The crabeater seal is the most numerous species of pinniped in the world, with a population estimated at between 15 and 40 million. Since its habitat is remote, the only concerns for conservation are indirect. Trace amounts of chemicals such as DDT have been found in populations of the crabeater seal, and if the fishing industry decides to use the krill in the Antarctic seas, the major food source of these seals may be severly depleted (Kooyman 1981). Now, however, its numbers appear to be stable. (Kooyman, 1981)

The large population of crabeater seals has been associated with the near-extinction of the large baleen whales. This is because the whales, like the crabeater seal, eat krill. Now there is probably more krill available to the crabeater seal. It is hypothesized that changes in sexual maturity and other reproductive characteristics correlate with large ecological changes such as this. Bengston and Siniff (1981) have shown that the age of sexual maturity of the crabeater has significantly decreased since the 1950s. (Siniff and Bengston, August 1977)