Elephant Seals
Elephant seals get their name from the adult males, which have a nose that looks rather like a short elephant trunk.

Southern elephant seals are found all around Antarctica and breed on subantarctic islands including South Georgia, Peninsula Valdez, Heard Island, and Macquarie Island.

Adult male southern elephant seals can weigh up to 3000kg and adult females around 300kg. Together with male walrus, they are the largest of the pinnipeds.Females reach about 900kg just before to giving birth. Pups weigh about 40kg at birth.
They are weaned after 24 days by which time they weigh between 120kg and 220kg.

Elephant seals breed in groups called harems. The strongest males each control a harem of up to 50 females. Once a harem grows to more than this, the dominant male will allow some less strong males to live with the harem. Harems can grow to over 1000 females with over 30males. The breeding season is September-November. Elephant seals do not feed during the breeding season, so their thick layer of blubber maintains them during that time.

Southern elephant seals feed on squid and fish. Generally alone, they travel loThey do not feed during the breeding season, so their thick layer of blubber maintains them during that time.

Southern elephant seals dive constantly while at sea. They can dive to over 1500m in depth and can stay underwater for up to 2 hours. However, most dives last about 30 minutes to depths between 300 and 800m. In between dives they spend just a few minutes at the surface.
 
Adult elephant seals return to subantarctic islands some time during January to April to moult.

Elephant seals were once hunted for their blubber, which was almost as prized as that of the sperm whale. The blubber was boiled to oil, which was used for lighting, among other things. 

Leopard seals...Antarctic fur seals...Weddell Seals...Crabeater seals

Click here to see photos of Antarctic seals

If you use any part of this, acknowledge it in your bibliography like this:
Antarctic Animals (2002). [Online], Available: www.kidcyber.com.au

Back to People & Places

 Updated July 2007