Seal attack victim's funeral set

Kirsty Brown was snorkelling when a leopard seal pulled her under

The funeral of the marine biologist who was killed by a leopard seal in the Antarctic is due to be held on Friday.

Kirsty Brown, 28, was snorkelling off the Rothera Research Station in July when she was attacked by the seal.

The experienced diver, from West Sussex, had been researching for the Cambridge-based British Antarctic Survey (BAS) for more than a year.

Her body, which had been kept at a specially made mortuary at the station, arrived back at RAF Brize Norton on Sunday after being released by the Falkland Islands coroner.

A plane had been put on standby to make the trip and was waiting for the right weather conditions before starting the flight.

Fund set up

The funeral will be held on Friday at 1500 BST in the Church of the Holy Innocents in Southwater, near Horsham.

An inquest into the scientist's death is due to be held in Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, in late September or early October.

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 research 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.