Generally they are not afraid of man, however if disturbed while resting, reproducing or marking territory they can be a different proposition. Keep clear as per most wildlife you encounter on your cruise. Despite once being on the endangered list, due to the protection of the Antarctic treaty, the Southern Elephant seal is no longer in any immediate danger. However, overfishing of Antarctic waters and human activities may in the future see some issues with their native habitat.
Thanks to Dr Mikolaj Golachowski for helping put this together. Dr Miko was a lecturer on-board our last PinkTarctica Antarctic expedition to the Peninsula and is a leading expert on Elephant seals and their behaviour. Dr Mikolaj is a native of Poland, and was base commander of the Polish base on the Antarctic Peninsula for several seasons. He graduated at the Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw and began working there as a researcher and lecturer of Zoology and Ecology in Want to continue learning about seals, check out this fantastic blog on the Majestic Weddell Seal.
Visit Antarctica Cruises for further inspiration. Male southern elephant seals can reach up to 3, kg 8, pounds , while northern elephant seals usually only grow to about 2, kg 5, pounds.
It may be that, at some point in their history, all elephant seals were one species. Over time, environmental factors like ocean temperature, food availability, predation, and geography may have caused them to diverge into the two distinct species alive today. Southern elephant seals have been recorded diving up to 2, meters 7, feet and can stay underwater for nearly two hours.
Their large eyes allow them to seek prey in areas with low light. When it gets dark, their sensitive vibrissae whiskers also let them probe the water for prey.
Using their sharp teeth, southern elephant seals can dig through mud or snatch prey out of the water. Southern elephant seal diet is largely composed of squid, mollusks, krill, cephalopods, and algae. They may eat more, but their long and deep dives make dietary studies difficult. The southern elephant seal breeding season, which lasts from August to November, is the best time to see these animals hauled out on land. During this time, the larger males fight one another to establish dominance over a particular section of beach.
Dominance fights can last for hours and end in serious injuries to both elephant seals. Vocalizations are also common during these fights and are amplified by inflating their trunk-like noses with air.
Once a beach master has been established, he will gather a harem of 40 to 50 females that he will vigilantly monitor and defend until the end of the breeding season. Female southern elephant seals give birth to one pup that they nurse for up to 23 days, then head back into open water to feed and regain energy. The pups, or weaners, are left to fend for themselves, congregating into pods for four to six weeks. These weaner pods next face the dangerous task of leaving the beach and descending into the open ocean.
Orcas, one of the only known predators of southern elephant seals, can be lethal adversaries during this vulnerable period. On King George Island in the Antarctic Peninsula , southern elephant seals are monitored from October to March using non-invasive methods. Adults, sub-adults, young adults, and pups are included in the survey, along with their behaviors.
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