The Arctic doesn't have leopard seals, true...it has polar bears! And that can be an issue. From DAN's Alert Diver Magazine, online version,
In the Company of Polar Bears, by Amos Nachoum. Here's an excerpt:
"Instead, I entered the water to find the bear was already making its way toward me. Looking behind me for my safety diver, I discovered he was not there. Smart of him! When I turned back, the bear was only 10 feet away from me. At that point, my best move seemed to be to descend, but every time I looked up, the bear paws above my head loomed nearer. Cold fear entered my mind, but with each breath I took comfort in knowing I still lived.
We dived together, the bear and me, in a deadly race to the depths."
Granted, he was looking for and studying polar bears, so it was not a random attack on a civilian.
Richard.