Weddell seal

A diurnal piscivore, the weddell seal feeds on fish. It has 1 young per litter after a gestation period of 312 days, reaches sexual maturity at 3.6 years, has a lifespan of 25 years and is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.

Weight

400 kg – 410.8 kgsrc for Weight

Length

Not recorded

Lifespan

25 yearssrc for Lifespan

Diet

Piscivoresrc for Diet

Main food

fishsrc for Main food

Habitat

Not recorded

Gestation

304 days – 365 dayssrc for Gestation

Young per litter or clutch

1src for Young per litter or clutch

Age at maturity

2.99 years – 4.19 yearssrc for Age at maturity

Litters or clutches a year

1.1src for Litters or clutches a year

Active

By day (diurnal)src for Active

Lifestyle

Marinesrc for Lifestyle

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status

Countries on record

Not recorded

Not recorded

The weddell seal is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

1. LCLeast Concern
2. NTNear Threatened
3. VUVulnerable
4. ENEndangered
5. CRCritically Endangered
6. EWExtinct in the Wild
7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

1. kingdomAnimalia
2. phylumChordata
3. classMammalia
4. orderCarnivora
5. familyPhocidae
6. genusLeptonychotes
7. SpeciesLeptonychotes weddellii (Lesson, 1826)

Synonyms Leptonychotes weddelli, Leptonyx leopardina, Leptonyx weddellii, Ogmorinhus leptonyx, Otaria weddellii, Phoca leopardina, Phoca weddellii, Stenorhychus leptonyx, Stenorhynchus weddellii

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

LC, Least Concern

Harbor seal

Phoca vitulina

Phocidae

LC, Least Concern

Grey seal

Halichoerus grypus

Phocidae

LC, Least Concern

Leopard seal

Hydrurga leptonyx

Phocidae

VU, Vulnerable

Mediterranean monk seal

Monachus monachus

Phocidae

NT, Near Threatened

Bearded seal

Erignathus barbatus

Phocidae

LC, Least Concern

Ringed seal

Pusa hispida

Phocidae

CompareWeddell seal vs Harbor sealWeddell seal vs Grey sealWeddell seal vs Leopard sealWeddell seal vs Mediterranean monk seal

• An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
  Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
• Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
  Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
• Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
  Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
• EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
  Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1
• Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
  Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
• Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
  Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

@misc{weddell_seal_2026,
  title = {Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/weddell-seal},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}