on a tuesday afternoon in july 2003 kristy brown was snorkeling in the antarctic peninsula just
25 yards away from rothera research station when a large leopard seal appeared out of nowhere
thrashed her with her teeth and dragged her underwater until she lost her life
in this video we will tell you about the unsettling story of the death of kristy brown
leopard seals are top predators of antarctic and sub-antarctic waters
they feed off penguins fish krill and birds by attacking them in the water using their strong
jaw and sharp serrated teeth leopard seals capture their prey in the most aggressive way
first they approach the target by swimming silently towards it then once the prey is in their
vicinity they sink their massive canine teeth into its skin and thrash the animal back and forth in
an attempt to tear it apart the prey tries to free itself but this massive killer just does
not let it go leopard seals are the second largest species of seals present in antarctica given that
their only predator is the killer whale an adult leopard seal is 8 to 12 feet long and weighs
up to 300 kilograms it is large enough to attack and kill a human although the reports of leopard
seal attacks on humans are rare there has been one fatality that still haunts the antarctic divers
kristy brown was a 28 year old marine biologist with a degree in geology
she was a dedicated researcher and an experienced diver and photographer in 2003 she was working
with british antarctic survey BAS at rothera research station on the antarctic peninsula
she was working with 22 other researchers there her project was to investigate the impacts of
iceberg disturbance on animals and plant species that were present near the antarctic seabed
in july 2003 she had finished the first phase of this project which was to put 500 plasticine and
concrete markers for observing iceberg scouring on the seabed the sea in the antarctic peninsula
stays frozen for most part of the year even when the ice melts in summer diving in that part of the
antarctic is not easy only experienced divers are allowed to go snorkeling and only when the
research team allows it there are certain rules and procedures that the divers have to follow
before they go diving one of the most important rules of diving there is to first make sure no
leopard seal is present on the site if a leopard seal is seen in the area the research team turns
down the diving plan leopard seals are aggressive animals that have the potential to attack a human
so this rule is to be strictly followed a quick reminder if you enjoyed the video so
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on 22 july 2003 kristy decided to go snorkeling near the research station with her diving buddy
she wanted to enjoy the underwater view and take some photographs little did she know
that something terrible was about to happen as always they followed the safety protocol
before they started their research they made sure no leopard seal was present in the area
somehow they missed noticing one leopard seal that was swimming near that area
after diving for some minutes kristy's colleague returned to the shore but kristy wanted to dive
again to research more until then the leopard seal had already gotten too close to their area
as kristy dived again into the water two of her colleagues standing on the shore noticed
something large moving quickly towards her from the nearby rocks it was an adult leopard seal
humans are not the prime prey of leopard seals so it should not have approached kristy normally
but maybe when the seal saw her it mistook kristy for a penguin
given that she was wearing fin-like flippers the leopard seal might have approached her out
of curiosity or merely out of fear thinking of her as a new predator in the territory
when kristie's colleagues on the shore saw the seal swimming frantically towards her they tried
to warn her but the seal was already too close the leopard seal circled kristy to frighten her first
then as she tried to swim back towards the shore the seal attacked her and bit into her leg
kristy screamed in pain as the seal sharp teeth pierced her skin and blood started oozing out
she tried to fight the massive animal but the seal did not let her get away
kristy was losing her breath so she struggled to get to the surface the leopard seal dragged her
even deeper into the water as she tried to go up it will release her from time to time only
to clamp her again with more force the leopard seal attacked her like this at least 20 times
every time it would sink its teeth into kristy's flesh gushing blood all around she would shriek
with pain watching this her colleague divers prepped a boat on the shore to go rescue kristy
unfortunately by the time they reached the attack site the leopard seal had already
dragged her 70 meters under the water surface it took them 10 minutes to reach there and pull
kristy out of the water they quickly took her to the shore where paramedics tried to resuscitate
her for about an hour until they realized that their brave researcher had passed away
the medical team disclosed that the leopard seal had not eaten any part of her body
although it had caused 45 different lacerations and numerous bruises on her body
after the tragic leopard seal attack on kristy scientists in antarctica are more worried than
ever about snorkeling into the sea they believe that as more research programs are being started
in the antarctic peninsula there will be more exposure of human life to leopard seals
increasing the risk of being attacked by these predators according to them the
seals are getting more opportunities to assess whether we're something they want to feed on