The leopard seal is one of four species of pack-ice seals in Antarctica with each species occupying a distinct position in the Antarctic sea-ice ecosystem. Pack-ice seals offer a potential source of information about ecosystem interactions and environmental variability integrated over a variety of spatial and temporal scales. As large bodied top order predators, leopard seals are not greatly affected by short-term local environmental fluctuations, but are likely to be the first to respond to significant environmental changes. They represent key species for examining shifts in the Antarctic ecosystem as a consequence of natural fluctuations, human activities and global climate change.

 

My research will determine what features of the environment are influencing the spatial distribution of leopard seals in Antarctic waters.

2007 Modelling the habitat preference of leopard seals off Eastern Antarctica - Honours Thesis, Dr Eleanor Bruce (USYD) and Dr Tracey Rogers

• Antarctic sea-ice ecosystem
• Marine mammal acoustics
• Spatial ecology

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Email: n.constantinou@student.unsw.edu.au
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