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What the sources say

Crabeater SealLobodon carcinophaga

Every figure, record and mechanism on the Crabeater Seal profile was written from a source, and this is the working table behind it: 37 claims checked word for word against these sources. The left column is what the page says. The right column is the source's own words, copied, not paraphrased; a ... marks a cut and[brackets] an insertion. Open any source and check it yourself.

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Source
01

Australian Antarctic Division

Crabeater seal. Australian Antarctic Division.

The page saysThe Southern Ocean's most abundant seal
The source saysThey are the most abundant seal species in the Southern Ocean
The page saysthe seal uses this dentition to gulp in a mouthful of seawater and strain out the krill
The source saysCrabeater seals have specially adapted teeth with extra projections to gulp in seawater and strain out the krill.
The page saysCircumpolar pack ice of the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica
The source saysCrabeater seals have a circumpolar distribution
The page saysCircumpolar pack ice of the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica
The source saysthe pack-ice zone surrounding Antarctica
The page saysDespite the name, this seal doesn't eat crabs. It eats krill.
The source saysDespite their name, these seals don't eat crabs, they eat krill ( Euphausia superba ).
The page saysreaching lengths of 2.5 meters and weights of 400 kilograms
The source saysMales and females are similar in size, reaching lengths of 2.5 m and weights of 400 kg.
The page saysNewborn pups are about 1.2 meters long and weigh 20 to 30 kilograms.
The source saysNew-born pups are about 1.2 m and weigh from 20 to 30 kg.
The page saysThe name comes from the German word Krebs, which covers crustaceans in general, not crabs alone
The source saysTheir name originates from the German word, 'Krebs', which covers other crustacea as well as crabs.
The page sayscrabeater seals can dive to 250 meters but usually feed in the top 20 meters of water
The source saysThey are capable of diving to depths of up to 250 m, but usually feed within the upper 20 m of the water column.
The page sayscrabeater seals spend their entire lives in the pack ice ringing Antarctica: resting, breeding and moulting on the ice, and feeding in the surrounding water.
The source saysCrabeater seals spend their entire lives in the pack-ice zone surrounding Antarctica, resting, breeding and moulting on the pack-ice, and feeding in the surrounding water.
The page saysan estimated population of about 15 million
The source saysCrabeater seals have a circumpolar distribution with an estimated population of about 15 million.
The page saysCircumpolar and an Estimated 15 Million Strong
The source saysCrabeater seals have a circumpolar distribution with an estimated population of about 15 million.
The page sayscalling them the most abundant seal in the Southern Ocean and the most numerous of the world's larger animals besides humans
The source saysThey are the most abundant seal species in the Southern Ocean, and the most numerous of all the world's larger animals apart from humans.
The page saysMost adult crabeater seals carry large scars from unsuccessful leopard seal attacks made when they were younger.
The source saysLeopard seals are a major predator of crabeater seals, particularly of young pups. Most adult crabeater seals have large scars as a result of unsuccessful attacks from leopard seals when they were younger.
The page saysCrabeater seals are named for the German word Krebs, which the Australian Antarctic Division notes covers crustaceans in general, not crabs alone.
The source saysTheir name originates from the German word, 'Krebs', which covers other crustacea as well as crabs.
The page saysWhat the seal actually eats is Antarctic krill.
The source saysDespite their name, these seals don't eat crabs, they eat krill ( Euphausia superba ).
The page saystags: pack-ice
The source saysCrabeater seals spend their entire lives in the pack-ice zone surrounding Antarctica, resting, breeding and moulting on the pack-ice, and feeding in the surrounding water.

Source
02

Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan

Lobodon carcinophaga (crabeater seal). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

The page saysteeth called the most complex of any carnivore
The source saysIts teeth are very distinct and have been called "the most complex of any carnivore"
The page saysTeeth with interlocking, multi-cusped crowns that seal shut like a sieve, straining krill from a mouthful of seawater
The source saysThere 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.Note: combined with the AAD claim on the sieving mechanism below; AAD states the mechanism without ADW's hedge ('probably serves as')
The page saysThe crabeater seal (Lobodon carcinophaga) is a slender, long-snouted seal of the Antarctic pack ice.
The source saysIt has a long snout and a fairly slim body compared to other seals.
The page saysThe crabeater seal's teeth have been called "the most complex of any carnivore," Animal Diversity Web notes: each carries several tubercles, and when the jaws close the only spaces left are the gaps between them.
The source saysIts teeth are very distinct and have been called "the most complex of any carnivore" ... There are several tubercles on each tooth with spaces between them that cut deeply into the tooth ... When the crabeater seal closes its mouth, the only spaces are those between the tubercles.
The page saysAnimal Diversity Web calls the crabeater probably the fastest pinniped on land, reaching speeds of up to 25 kilometers an hour; when sprinting it swings its head from side to side in time with its pelvis.
The source saysThe 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.
The page saysAnimal Diversity Web notes that while the species lives mainly on Antarctica's coast and pack ice, in the winter months it may be found on the shores of South America, Australia, South Africa, Tasmania and New Zealand.
The source saysThe crabeater seal, Lobodon carcinophagus, 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.
The page saysOnce in the water, a crabeater seal dives nearly continually for about 16 hours, averaging 143 dives a day in one late-summer count.
The source saysThey 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.

Source
03

Guerrero et al. 2021

Guerrero et al. (2021). Complementary use of stable isotopes and fatty acids for quantitative diet estimation of sympatric predators, the Antarctic pack-ice seals. Oecologia.

The page saysAntarctic krill, estimated at 84 to 91 percent of diet off the Western Antarctic Peninsula in a 2021 isotope and fatty-acid study
The source saysThe FA model estimated that E. superba contributed 84% to the diet, whereas the SI model determined that E. superba contributed 91%Note: 2021 is the paper's publication year (sampling was austral summer 2015); n=21 seals, Danco Coast, Western Antarctic Peninsula
The page saysA 2021 study that sampled 21 crabeater seals off the Western Antarctic Peninsula, using stable isotopes and fatty acids
The source says21 crabeater seals (10 adult males, 9 adult females, and 2 juvenile females) ... were sampled while hauled out on sea ice off the Danco Coast, Western Antarctic PeninsulaNote: 2021 is the publication year; sampling was in the austral summer of 2015
The page saysestimated krill made up 84 to 91 percent of their diet depending on the method
The source saysThe FA model estimated that E. superba contributed 84% to the diet, whereas the SI model determined that E. superba contributed 91%
The page saysKrill, Almost Exclusively
The source saysboth methods identified krill, Euphausia superba , as the main, and almost exclusive, food item
The page saysA 2021 study that measured both stable isotopes and fatty acids in seals off the Antarctic Peninsula estimated krill at 84 to 91 percent of the diet, with the two biochemical methods giving slightly different numbers for the same animals.
The source saysThe FA model estimated that E. superba contributed 84% to the diet, whereas the SI model determined that E. superba contributed 91%Note: 2021 is the publication year; the study measured the same 21 seals by both methods
The page saysNearly all of it.
The source saysboth methods identified krill, Euphausia superba , as the main, and almost exclusive, food itemNote: paraphrase of 'the main, and almost exclusive, food item'; 84 to 91 percent in the next sentence

Source
04

Kienle & Berta 2015

Kienle & Berta (2015). The better to eat you with: the comparative feeding morphology of phocid seals (Pinnipedia, Phocidae). Journal of Anatomy.

The page saysA study of seal feeding anatomy says the crabeater's filter feeding and the leopard seal's grip-and-tear are specialized strategies with their own adaptations
The source saysGrip and tear and filter feeding are specialized strategies with specific morphological adaptations. These unique adaptations have allowed leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) and crabeater seals (Lobodon carcinophaga) to exploit novel ecological niches and prey types.Note: the abstract also calls suction feeding specialized, so 'one of just two specialized strategies' was cut
The page saysexploit novel ecological niches and prey types
The source saysto exploit novel ecological niches and prey types

Source
05

Wege, Salas & LaRue 2021

Wege, Salas & LaRue (2021). Ice matters: Life-history strategies of two Antarctic seals dictate climate change eventualities in the Weddell Sea. Global Change Biology.

The page saysA 2021 review similarly calls the species "likely one of the most abundant marine mammals in the world."
The source saysa capital breeder and likely one of the most abundant marine mammals in the world (Laws, 1977)Note: 2021 is the review's publication year; the abundance line is its citation of Laws (1977)

Source
06

Curtis, Stewart & Karl 2009

Curtis, Stewart & Karl (2009). Pleistocene population expansions of Antarctic seals. Molecular Ecology.

The page saysA mitochondrial DNA study of seals from the Amundsen and Ross seas suggests their population expanded suddenly around 1.6 million years ago, during a period of intensified glaciation that may have opened up more pack ice habitat
The source saysWe sequenced a portion ( c . 475 bp) of the mitochondrial control region of three species of Antarctic phocid carnivores ... of the western Amundsen and Ross seas of western Antarctica. ... suggesting that their populations expanded suddenly around 731 000 years ago (Weddell seals) and around 1.6 million years ago (crabeater seals). Both of these expansions occurred during times of intensified glaciations and may have been fostered by expanding pack ice habitat.Note: the 1.6 million year figure is the crabeater seal estimate; the Weddell seal figure (731,000 years) is not used in the claim

Source
07

Smith et al. 1981

Smith et al. (1981). Coordinated behavior of killer whales, Orcinus orca, hunting a crabeater seal, Lobodon carcinophagus. Canadian Journal of Zoology.

The page saysin an observation published in 1981, a pod of seven orcas swam as a group close to a seal lying on an ice floe, raising a wave that tipped the floe and threw the seal into the water
The source saysA pod of seven killer whales (Orcinus orca) was seen to attack a lone crabeater seal (Lobodon carcinophagus) which was lying on an ice floe. The whale located the seal, moved away from the floating ice, then swam as a group close to the floe. This caused a wave which tipped up the ice floe and broke over it, causing the seal to be thrown into the water.Note: 1981 is the publication year; the abstract gives no observation date, and says no kill could be confirmed, so the page claims none

Source
08

Younger et al. 2026

Younger et al. (2026). High pathogenicity avian influenza virus H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b in Antarctica: Multiple Introductions and the First Confirmed Infection of Ice-Dependent Seals. openRxiv.

The page saysA 2026 preprint, not yet peer-reviewed, reports the first confirmed H5N1 bird flu infection in an Antarctic ice-dependent seal, a crabeater, and crabeater seal deaths across the northern Weddell Sea in November and December 2024.
The source saysWe report the first confirmed H5N1 infection in an Antarctic ice-dependent seal (crabeater seal; Lobodon carcinophaga) and document mortality of crabeater seals across the northern Weddell Sea during November–December 2024.Note: openRxiv preprint; audit:sources --search found no published version on 2026-09-27. 2026 is the posting year; November-December 2024 is the mortality period the quote gives

Source
09

Hückstädt 2025

Hückstädt (2025). Lobodon carcinophaga. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2025: e.T12246A294810299.

The page saysThe IUCN Red List's current entry, published in 2025, lists Lobodon carcinophaga as Least Concern.
The source saysIUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC).Note: category read through GBIF's copy of the Red List; 2025 is the publication year in the reference's Crossref-verified DOI (2025-2), not an assessment year

How the table was made: a writer drafted the profile from these sources and logged each claim with its quote, a reviewer with nothing but this table checked every sentence said no more than its quote, and a script confirmed each quote appears word for word in the source. The method is in the site'sAbout page.