Snorkelling scientist dies in leopard seal attack

By STEVE CONNOR

A female scientist snorkelling off the coast of Antarctica has been attacked and killed by a leopard seal.

Kirsty Brown, 28, is believed to have drowned as the seal struck her without warning and dragged her underwater, causing her to lose her air supply for a few vital minutes.

The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) said colleagues watching from the shore immediately launched a rescue boat, but efforts to resuscitate the marine biologist failed.

Brown was part of a team of 22 researchers who were "over-wintering" on the Antarctic Peninsula at the BAS Rothera Research Station, which is Britain's centre for research in biology, geoscience and atmospheric science.

She was an experienced diver and had taken part in diving expeditions off Greenland and the Arctic since 1995, as well as in warmer waters off Australia and Britain.

A BAS spokeswoman said Brown was snorkelling at her study site in the bay next to the research station with her snorkelling "buddy" on Tuesday when the seal attacked suddenly.

Leopard seals can grow up to 4.6m long and are one of Antarctica's fiercest predators. Favourite prey are penguins but they also hunt other seals and fish.

Although leopard seals are known to be highly inquisitive creatures they are not known to be aggressive towards human swimmers.

"Our divers go into the water every single day of the year and we've never experienced this in 30 years," the spokeswoman said.

The two colleagues who launched the rescue boat pulled Brown out of the water and began resuscitation procedures in the boat while taking her to the research station.

"Despite carrying out cardio-pulmonary resuscitation for one hour, the station doctor and colleagues were unable to revive her," said a BAS statement.

Brown was investigating the impact of scouring by icebergs on the marine animals living near the shores of the Antarctic Peninsula. She had joined the BAS last summer on a 30-month contract.

Her first degree was in geology from the University of London.

She then earned a master of science degree in oceanography at Southampton University before moving to Adelaide University in South Australia. She worked as a scientific diver as part of Imperial College's Greenland Diving Expedition in 1995 and then as a field assistant in Greenland during the summer of 1996 for the Cambridge Arctic Shelf Programme and as a research scientist in Canberra.

A keen diver, Brown had gained qualifications in diving and a commercial professional diver's qualification awarded by the Health and Safety Executive.

Her body will be flown back to Britain after an inquest into her death.

This will be held under the auspices of the British Antarctic Territory, the governing body for the region.

- INDEPENDENT