I’m researching leopard seals at the moment. Being the laziest researcher in the ficton world – I will generally wing it and see what I can get away with (you didn’t hear me say that) – I know when a subject grabs me because I’ll be willing to plough through the dryest and densest of historical documents, scientific papers or whatever. This happened when I was reading about the Scottish witch hunts for FIREBRAND. And now it’s happened with leopard seals.

I LOVE these animals! Top predators of the southern oceans, they’re about as far from adorable Scottish seals as you can get – well, certainly geographically speaking, though I’m sure there’s many a salmon farmer who would see similiarities. There are terrific accounts from the expeditions of Scott and Shackleton (as well as more recent adventures) that you can read in the appendices here. There are a few common threads from these encounters – the words ‘reptilian’ and ‘dinosaur’ seem to crop up rather a lot. And I can see why…

The look on that penguin’s face….

I’ve filched some of these pictures from National Geographic and from the report sponsored by the Kirsty Brown Fund and the British Antarctic Survey.  The report was compiled in memory of Kirsty Brown, a young marine biologist with the BAS, who was attacked and drowned by a leopard seal in 2003. That incident, they concluded, was incredibly unusual – the seals can be curious and aggressive, but rarely attack. Still, it’s now a rule that divers should leave the water if a leopard seal is around. Well, wouldn’t you?

Remember, folks: we know more about deep space than we do about our own planet’s oceans, and what lives there. I think I’ll be happy spending Christmas with the dry-land monsters in the caves. Happy Christmas everybody, and stay warm. AND DRY.

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