Though not particularly attractive (well the male at least is pretty ugly), the Elephant Seal is an amazing animal. There are two types, the northern elephant seal found ranging over the Pacific coast of the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and the Southern elephant seal on sub-Antarctic islands such as South Georgia and Macquarie Island, as well as on the coasts of New Zealand, South Africa, and Argentina.
These animals are so amazing that I decided to just list the things we know about them:
The males are much larger than the females reaching a length of 5 m (16 ft) and a weight of 3,000 kg (6,600 lb)
They are named Elephant seals because of their pronounced noses. The noses have a real function. They recycle moisture which is important when the males are confined to land during the mating season and need to conserve moisture as they will have no external moisture source during their time ashore.
They have no external ears and the internal structure of the inner ear helps amplify incoming sounds giving them good directional ability. The structure also helps with pressure equalisation on deep dives.
Spend 80% of their lives in the ocean
Normally dive between 300-600 metres but have been known to dive to 2,388 m (7,835 ft) (over 2km!!!)
They can hold their breath for over one and a half hours! due to the fact that they have a very large volume of blood and a larger proportion of oxygen-carrying red blood cells. As well, they can store oxygen in their abdomens and muscles, allowing them to dive to great depths and stay underwater for extended periods. On top of this they can slow down their metabolism and their heartbeat.
Elephant seal milk is incredibly high in milkfat compared to other mammals. It can be over 50% milkfat compared to human breast milk at about 4% milkfat, and cow milk at about 3.5% milkfat.
They have the ability to fast for long periods of time (up to 3 months). This allows them to stay on land and mate with as many females as possible instead of having to hunt for food in the ocean.
In breeding season there is usually a dominant male who controls a territory of beach with a harem of up to 50 females. He is assisted by a beta male who patrols the beach keeping other males away but hoping to mate with one of the females while the ‘boss’ is distracted.
Pregnancy takes 11 months but the birth usually only a few minutes
When males reach 8 to 9 years of age, they have developed a pronounced long nose, in addition to a chest shield, which is thickened skin in their chest area. This chest area comes into play when they ram each other in battles for dominance. Showing off their noses, making loud vocalizations, and altering their posture are a few ways males show off their dominance.
Their main predators are great white sharks and Orcas (killer whales) though they are also threatened by entanglement in marine debris (fishing nets, etc), fishery interactions, and boat collisions.
Elephant seals have external whiskers called vibrissae to help them locate prey and navigate their environment.
Their eyes have more rods than cones to help them see in low light conditions when they are diving
Their bodies are covered in blubber, which helps them keep warm, especially on deep dives.
They eat skates, rays, squid, octopuses, eels, small sharks and large fish. Their stomachs often contain gastroliths (gizzard stones) which are basically a quantity of pebbles that helps them grind up food.