Elephant Seal

The Northern Elephant Seal is smaller in size than the Southern Elephant Seal. It, the Northern Elephant seal lives along the Pacific coast of the US and Canada. The Southern Elephant Seal is sighted along the coasts of South Africa, New Zealand and Argentina. In fact, the Valdes Peninsula in Argentina is the fourth largest elephant seal colony in the world! The Elephant seal is so named because of the enormous size of its body and the proboscis that the adult bulls have. The large proboscis resembles an elephant's trunk and even produces loud, roaring noises. The roaring sound is heard the most during the mating season. The proboscis, in the bull, is filled with cavities that enable the mammal to rebreathe and reabsorb the moisture lost while exhaling.

During the mating season, the male Elephant seal leave the beach rarely, to feed or otherwise and hence, it becomes very essential for the mammal to retain the body moisture. The loud roaring noises generated by the bulls through the proboscis is not only to attract the cows, but also to generate the incoming source of the required moisture. The northern and the southern bull elephant seal grow to a length of nearly 5.5 m and weigh nearly 2,270 kg. The average lifespan or life expectancy of the female elephant seal is about 20 years, while that of the bull is 14. The female matures and can give birth from between 3–4 years, while the bulls reach maturity at five years. Even though the bulls mature at five years, they only achieve alpha status by the age of 8. In bull elephant seals, the breeding years are between 9 and 12.

The bull Elephant seal is much larger than a cow. The cows or the females measure approximately 3 m in length and weigh about 650 kg. The largest bull elephant seal on record weighed 5000 kg and was 6.9 m in length! Elephant seals spend most of their lives in the ocean and can hold their breath for over an hour! The recorded 80 minutes makes them the record holders among the other non-cetacean mammals. In a single dive, the elephant seals can cover a depth of nearly 1500 meters! They are known to dive beneath the ocean's surface to search for prey like octopuses, eels, skates, rays and even sharks.

The Elephant seals are excellent swimmers and great runners on land too. They are known to cover a greater velocity than the average human! Elephant seals have a lot of blubber under the skin that shields them from extreme cold. The blubber is more effective in keeping the cold at bay than the fur. The Elephant seal is susceptible to cold when the skin on top of the blubber and the fur molts. This is because the regrowth requires the blood vessels to go through the blubber. At this time the elephant seal ‘hauls out’ or finds a safe resting place on land. The interesting point to note is that when the elephant seal undergoes the catastrophic molt, the bulls refrain from quarelling or fighting with one another.

Elephant seals need a large amount of oxygen when diving deep to feed. This supply of oxygen is produced by the large volume of blood in their bodies. The large sinuses in their abdomens store oxygenated blood. The elephant seals also have a larger proportion of red blood cells than other mammals. These oxygen carriers aid the mammals under water escapades that sometimes last for up to 2 hours. The anatomy of the elephant seal is designed to enable the mammal to survive the harsh weather conditions and terrain. This amazing creature is affected by the man made influences of global warming and water pollution. The elephant seal adds beauty to the snow covered regions and it is up to us to ensure that the roar continues to resound through the crisp, chill air!