Almost 90 percent of elephant seal’s time was spent under the water to search for food. When they reach the sea, they can cover the distance 60 miles per day.
In size, bulls are much larger than the cows. The bulls of southern elephant can grow up to 16 feet in length and weigh around 6,600 pounds. However, some of these seals can be as long as 20 feet in length and weigh 8,800 pounds. The southern elephant cows are 10 feet long and weigh around 2,000 pounds. The northern elephant bulls have size range of 14 to 16 feet and weigh up to 5,500 pounds.
They can dive up to a depth of 5,085 feet. The recorded deepest dive by a southern elephant is 7,835 feet. However, on average, the dive is not more than 1,970 feet deep. Elephant seals can swim without breathing for 100 minutes and stay underwater for 2 hours because they have a lot of blood inside and hence, oxygen
Let us find out the classification of elephant seals. They are included in the family Phocidae and order Pinnipedia.
Do you know the habitat for the southern elephant seals? They can be found living in the coasts of South Africa and New Zealand. You can also have them in the Peninsula Valdes in Argentine. They also inhabit Macquarie Island and South Georgia. Most of them are spotted on the southern hemisphere.
During the mating season, the elephant seals will use the proboscis to generate the loud roaring sound.
In the 19th century, southern and northern elephant seals were hunted to the brink of extinction, mainly for oil. However, their population has since returned to normal.
The weight of the baby elephant seals can reach the weight of 80 pounds. The length is measured at 4 feet. Sexual dimorphism is spotted on this animal because the female usually has the weight 10 times less than the male the counterpart. The male has greater dominance during the mating season due to the presence of large proboscis.
A small colony o 120 elephant seals is spotted in southern Chile at Jackson Bay.
Normally, the maturity age for the bulls is around 5 to 6 years. However, the peak maturity age starts from 9 to 12 years. A female produces single pup.
Do you know that the fourth largest colony of elephant seals in the world is located in Peninsula Valdes, Argentina?
On average, the southern elephant seal has a lifespan of 20 to 22 years while northern elephant has a shorter lifespan of up to 9 years.
The breeding of elephant seals takes place every year. They create their own breeding area with the members of the colony.
Elephant seals feed mainly on large fish, octopuses, eels, squid and smaller sharks, skates and rays.
The weight of northern elephant seal reached 2,500 kilogram. The southern ones have the weight of 3,000 kilogram.
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