Ross seals have a circumpolar distribution in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctic. They are usually sighted in summer in dense consolidated pack ice where they haulout to breed, moult and rest. Recent satellite tracking suggests that some Ross seals may move north to the open ocean in autumn (Nordøy and Blix 2001). Vagrants have been reported from South Sandwich, Falkland, Scott, South Orkney, Kerguelen, and Heard Islands, and South Australia (Rice 1998, Thomas 2002).