Funeral for seal attack victim

Kirsty Brown was snorkelling when a leopard seal pulled her under

More than 150 people attended the funeral of a marine biologist who was killed by a leopard seal in the Antarctic.

Kirsty Brown, 28, an experienced diver, was snorkelling off the Rothera Research Station on 23 July when she was attacked by the seal without warning.

Miss Brown's funeral took place near her home in West Sussex on Friday afternoon.

She was working with the Cambridge-based British Antarctic Survey (BAS) when she died.

Two colleagues saw the attack, but said they had not seen the seal approaching under water.

Lively personality

Miss Brown's body arrived back at RAF Brize Norton on Sunday after being released by the Falkland Islands' coroner.

An inquest into her death is die to be held in the Falklands in late September or early October.

The coffin was carried by horse and cart to the Church of the Holy Innocents in Southwater, near Horsham, to celebrate Miss Brown's love of horses.

She was small and bubbly with a wonderful, infectious grin and laugh Tribute from Kirsty Brown's family

Pallbearers wearing T-shirts of the BAS, for whom she had worked for more than a year, carried it into the church.

The coffin was decorated with the flag of the British Antarctic Territory and bouquets of sunflowers and red and white roses.

Many of the mourners were casually dressed, at the request of relatives.

Miss Brown's brother Duncan read a tribute to her during the service, which was led by the Reverend Philip Jones.

'Long-held dream'

The Brown family issued a tribute statement before the funeral, which said: "Kirsty, known to her family as Bang, was always the life and soul of any group she was with.

"She was small and bubbly with a wonderful, infectious grin and laugh.

"She was loved by so many as shown through the huge number of letters, cards and emails received from all over the world.

"She was at her happiest around a group of fun like-minded people when working in an environment where her knowledge was used.

"It was a long-held dream of hers to go to the Antarctic and she was very happy to be there.

"One of her greatest attributes was her ability to look out for and look after others so she fitted in well with the tight knit group down there.

"Her enthusiasm was immense."

The Kirsty Brown Fund has been set up in her memory to investigate the behaviour of leopard seals and carry out geological research.

BAS has been carrying out studies involving snorkelling and diving for the last 30 years.

The research project Miss Brown was working on involved looking at the impact of icebergs on Antarctic marine animals communities.

She was a qualified and experienced scientific diver and joined BAS in summer 2002 on a 30-month contract.