There are only a couple of types sea elephants, named according to the part they occupy Earth's hemisphere. These are truly unique animals, the sex of the newborn offspring of which is determined by the water temperature and general weather conditions.
Description of the sea elephant
Elephant seal fossils date back hundreds of years. The animals got their name because of a small process in the area of the muzzle, outwardly very reminiscent of an elephant's trunk. Although only males “wear” such a distinctive feature. The muzzle of the females is smooth with the usual neat nose. On the nose of both of them there are vibrissae - supersensitive antennae.
It is interesting! Each year, elephant seals spend half of the winter season in the process of molting. At this time, they crawl ashore, their skin swells with many bubbles and, literally, comes off in layers. It looks unpleasant, and the sensations are no more joyful.
The process is painful, causing discomfort to the animal. Before everything is over and his body is covered with new fur, a lot of time will pass, the animal will lose weight, become emaciated and haggard. After the end of the molt, the elephant seals return to the water again to gain fat and replenish their strength for the upcoming meeting with the opposite sex.
Appearance
These are the largest representatives of the seal family. They are geographically divided into two types - southern and northern. The inhabitants of the southern regions are slightly larger in size than the inhabitants of the northern ones. Sexual dimorphism in these animals is extremely pronounced. Males (both southern and northern) are much larger than females. The average mature male weighs about 3000-6000 kg and reaches a length of five meters. The female, on the other hand, hardly reaches 900 kilograms and is about 3 meters tall. There are at least 33 species of pinnipeds, and so elephant seals are the largest of all.
The color of an animal's coat depends on various factors, including the sex of the animal, species, age and season. Depending on them, the coat may have reddish hues, light or dark brown or gray. Basically, the females are slightly darker than the males, their coat is close to the earthy color scheme. Males predominantly wear mouse-colored fur. From afar, flocks of elephants that have come out to bask in the sun resemble plush giants.
The elephant seal has a huge body that looks like an oval shape. The paws of the animal are replaced by flippers, convenient for fast movement in the water. At the ends of the front flippers are webbed fingers with sharp claws, in some cases reaching a length of five centimeters. The elephant seal's legs are too short to move quickly on land. The step length of an adult multi-ton animal is only 30-35 centimeters, because hind limbs and completely replaces the forked tail. The head of the elephant seal is small, relative to the size of the body, smoothly flowing into it. The eyes are dark, flattened oval.
Lifestyle, behavior
On land it's huge marine mammal behaves extremely rudely. However, as soon as the elephant seal touches the water, it turns into an excellent swimmer diver, reaching speeds of up to 10-15 kilometers per hour. These are massive animals, leading in the water mainly single image life. Only once a year they gather in colonies for breeding and molting.
How long does a sea elephant live
sea elephants live from 20 to 22 years, while the life expectancy of the northern elephant seal most often reaches only 9 years. At the same time, females live an order of magnitude longer than males. It's all the fault of the multiple injuries received by the male in fights for the championship.
sexual dimorphism
The pronounced differences between the sexes are one of the most striking features of northern elephant seals. Males are not only much larger and heavier than females, but also have a large, elephantine trunk, which they need to fight and demonstrate their superiority to the enemy. Also artificially produced distinguishing feature the male elephant seal is the scars on the neck, chest and shoulders, acquired in the process of endless fights for leadership during breeding periods.
Only the adult male has a large trunk resembling that of an elephant. It is also suitable for making the traditional mating roar. The expansion of such a proboscis allows the elephant seal to amplify the sound of snorts, grunts and loud drum bellows that can be heard for several kilometers. It also functions as a moisture absorbing filter. During the mating season, elephant seals do not leave the territory of the land, so the water conservation feature is quite useful.
Females are an order of magnitude darker than males. They are most often brownish in color with highlights around the neck. Such spots remain from the endless bites of males during the mating process. The size of the male varies between 4-5 meters, females 2-3 meters. The weight of an adult male is from 2 to 3 tons, females barely reach a ton, weighing 600-900 kilograms on average.
Types of elephant seals
There are two certain types elephant seals - northern and southern. Southern elephant seals are simply huge. Unlike most other oceanic mammals (such as whales and dugongs), these animals are not completely aquatic life. They spend about 20% of their lives on land and 80% in the ocean. Only once a year they crawl out onto the shores for molting and performing the function of reproduction.
Range, habitats
Northern elephant seals are found in the waters of Canada and Mexico, while southern elephant seals are located off the coast of New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina. Colonies of these animals crawl out onto the beaches in whole clouds to molt or fight for a pair. This can happen, for example, on any beach from Alaska to Mexico.
Elephant seal diet
Its menu mainly includes cephalopods sea depths. These are squids, octopuses, eels, rays, skates, crustaceans. Also some types of fish, krill and sometimes even penguins.
Males hunt at the bottom, while females go for food in open ocean. To determine the location and size of potential food, elephant seals use vibrissae, identifying prey by the slightest fluctuations in the water.
Elephant seals dive great depths. An adult elephant seal can spend two hours underwater, diving to depths of up to two kilometers.. What exactly do elephant seals do during these epic dives, the answer is simple - feed. When dissecting the belly of captured elephant seals, many squids were found. Less often, the menu includes fish or some types of crustaceans.
After breeding, many northern elephant seals travel north to Alaska to replenish their own fat stores, used up during their time on land. The diet of these animals requires deep diving skills. They can dive to depths of more than 1,500 meters, staying under water for about 120 minutes until they resurface. Although most dives at shallower depths last only about 20 minutes. More than 80% of the year's time is spent feeding at sea to provide energy for the breeding and molting seasons, in which feeding retreats are not provided.
A huge supply of fat is not the only adaptation mechanism that allows an animal to feel great at such a significant depth. Elephant seals have special sinuses located in abdominal cavity where they can store extra oxygenated blood. This allows you to dive and hold the air for a period of about a couple of hours. They can also store oxygen in the muscles with myoglobin.
Reproduction and offspring
Elephant seals are solitary animals. They come together only for periods of molting and breeding, on land. Every winter they return to their original breeding colonies. Female elephant seals reach sexual maturity at the age of 3 to 6 years, and males at the age of 5 to 6 years. However, this does not mean that a male who has reached this age will begin to participate in reproduction. For this, he is not yet considered strong enough, because he will have to fight for the female. Only by the age of 9-12 will he gain enough mass and strength to be competitive. Only at this age can a male acquire Alpha status, which gives the right to “own a harem”.
It is interesting! Males fight each other using body weight and teeth. While deaths fights are rare - mutual gifts in the form of scars are commonplace. The harem of one Alpha male ranges from 30 to 100 females.
Other males are forced to the outskirts of the colony, sometimes mating with slightly less "quality" females before the alpha male drives them off. Males, despite the distribution of "ladies" that have already taken place, continue to remain on land for the entire period, defending the occupied territories in the struggle. Unfortunately, during such fights, females are often injured and recently born cubs die. After all, in the process of battle, a huge, six-ton animal rises to the height of its own growth and with unthinkable force falls on the enemy, destroying everything that is in its path.
The annual breeding cycle of the northern elephant seal begins in December. At this time, huge males crawl out onto deserted beaches. Big number pregnant females will soon follow the males to unite in large groups like harems. Each group of females has its own dominant male. The competition for dominance is extremely intense. Males establish dominance through looks, gestures, all kinds of snorts and grunts, amplifying their volume with the help of their own trunk. Spectacular fights end with a lot of mutilations and injuries left by the fangs of the opponent.
2-5 days after the female stays on land, she gives birth to a baby. After the birth of a baby elephant seal, for some time the mother feeds him with milk. Such food, excreted by the body of the female, is about 12% fat. After a couple of weeks, this number increases to more than 50%, acquiring a liquid jelly-like consistency. For comparison, cow's milk has only 3.5% fat. The female feeds her cub in this way for about 27 more days. At the same time, she does not eat anything, but relies only on her own fat reserves. Shortly before the young are weaned from their mother and set off on their own voyage, the female mates again with the dominant male and returns to the sea.
For a further four to six weeks, the babies diligently practice swimming and diving before leaving the shore where they were born to spend the next six months at sea. Despite the fat reserve that allows them for a long time be without food, the mortality of babies during this period is extremely high. For about another six months, they will walk on a thin line, since it is at this time that about 30% of them will die.
Slightly more than half of mating females do not give birth to a baby. The female's pregnancy lasts about 11 months, after which a litter of one cub is born. Therefore, females arrive at the breeding site already "on demolition", after last year's mating. Then they give birth and get down to business again. Mothers do not eat for a whole month, which is necessary for feeding the baby.
natural enemies
Baby elephant seals are extremely vulnerable. As a result, they are often eaten by other predators, such as or. Also, a large proportion of cubs can die as a result of numerous fights of males for leadership.
Sea elephants are giants from the family of real seals. They are very similar to hooded seals, but are much larger than them. In nature, there are only 2 types of elephant seals: northern and southern.
They live up to their name 100%. They are so huge that they cannot be compared with anyone other than elephants.
They grow up to 5 meters long and weigh up to 2.5 tons!
Females are somewhat smaller than their "men". They rarely grow more than 3 meters. The amount of subcutaneous fat distinguishes the elephant seal from the rest of the representatives of true seals. They can accumulate it in astronomical proportions. Fat can be 35% of the total mass.
They also look like elephants because of the fleshy outgrowth on the nose. Of course, this is not a full-fledged elephant's trunk, but in comparison, this detail is not at all of little importance.
This "instrument" is used as a resonator for menacing roars, and as a frightening element during mating games.
Females have no such attribute of masculinity.
The skin of the elephant seal, as befits an elephant, is rough and thick. It is covered with short thick fur. Adults are all brown. Juveniles are silvery grey.
Southern elephant seals live on the shores of Patagonia and on the subantarctic islands. The northern ones have chosen the North American shores, spreading from Mexico and California to Canada. Elephant seals are rarely seen alone. They form huge rookeries on pebbly beaches.
Elephant seals form two types of rookeries. On one they "build" eyes to each other. These rookeries are called feeding rookeries.
There are also breeding grounds. There, females produce offspring and raise cubs. This state of affairs is very wise. Elephant seals are very clumsy on land. With their weight, they can simply destroy all the young. Therefore, maternity hospitals and Kindergarten located several hundred kilometers from the feeding beach.
Elephant seals feed on shellfish. Sometimes they can eat small fish.
These animals are very calm and apathetic. But! If you get the chance to see them with your own eyes, don't test their patience for too long!
Cubs are born once a year. mating season begins in August-September, when southern hemisphere spring begins.
First, adult males and females arrive on the beach. The young ones arrive a little later. Males begin to divide the beach, occupying their own pieces of territory. They zealously guard their "rifling" of the beach from other males. If necessary, they engage in combat with each other. Males inflate their proboscises, roar menacingly and bite each other to the point of blood and severe injuries. What can I say… Love is evil.
The female becomes someone else just by coming to the territory of this male. Once came, then you need to mate. Unless, of course, her opponent takes her away.
Some males manage to form a large harem of females. There can be up to 30 representatives of the weaker sex. Pregnancy lasts up to 11 months. The most interesting thing is that the mating season just falls on the birth season.
Having fed her offspring with milk for only one month, mommy is in a hurry to conceive again. Babies, by the way, at birth, they weigh up to 30 kilograms, leave the rookery, and wait another couple of months until the molt passes. At this time, they practically do not eat anything, but are alive only because mother's milk is an explosive mixture of proteins and carbohydrates, a crazy calorie content. Sucked out and deposited in subcutaneous fat for a month is enough to maintain strength for another 2 months.
Elephant seals are considered enemies in nature
Sea Elephant
The elephant seal is the largest pinniped. There are two species of elephant seals - the northern elephant seal, which lives on the western coast of the North American continent, and the not unlike southern elephant seal, which lives in Antarctica.
Elephant seals got their name because of their impressive size and proboscis-like nose, which only males of these animals have.
The "trunk" is absent in females and very young male elephant seals. The nose of males grows gradually and only by the eighth year of life acquires its final dimensions. big trunk in adult males, it hangs over the mouth with the nostrils down.
sea elephant and man 
During the mating season, male elephant seals become very aggressive and fight fierce battles among themselves. During these fights, the male can tear the enemy's nose to shreds.
The sizes of males and females in elephant seals are very different. The male can reach a length of 6 and a half meters, females up to 3 and a half.
Elephant seals spend most of their lives alone, like cats. Only when it's time to mate do elephant seals gather in large herds. At the same time, there are at least ten females per male, sometimes the ratio reaches twenty.
Fights between male elephant seals take place for the possession of a harem. Young elephant seals are forced to the edges of the colony, where their chances of mating are less. But driven by instinct, they regularly try to get into the center of the colony, which leads to violent fights.
In the hustle and bustle of colonies, many baby elephant seals die under the weight of large males. In fact, infant mortality in these colonies is enormous.
Constant contractions are the reason why male elephant seals live four years less than females. The male can live up to 14 years.
The basis of the diet of elephant seals are fish and cephalopods. They can dive for prey. great depths, up to 1400 meters. Elephant seals have this ability because of the large volume of blood in which a lot of oxygen is stored.
Elephant seals are endangered by killer whales and white sharks that hunt in the upper layers of the water.
Let's look at two types of elephant seals.
northern elephant seal
Previously, this species was very numerous and lived along the entire coast. North America from Alaska to Baja California. But in the 19th century, northern elephant seals began to be massively hunted for their blubber.
For some time this species was considered extinct, but one colony has survived on the Mexican island of Guadalupe. Today this species is under protection and its population is steadily increasing.
southern elephant seal
The southern elephant seal is the most major representative pinnipeds. It lives in the waters of the Antarctic and subantarctic. The length of the southern elephant seal reaches six meters, and the mass can reach four tons.
Most of the population lives in the Subantarctic. Earlier colonies of this species were in Tasmania, King Island, Juan Fernandez and Saint Helena. But mass fishing led to the complete destruction of these colonies.
population southern view Elephant seals currently reach 670-800 thousand individuals.
Sea elephants are real giants, they are the largest carnivores. They belong to real seals and are somewhat similar to hooded seals, however, they are much larger than them. In nature, there are 2 types of elephant seals: southern and northern.
Since the southern elephant seal has quite impressive size, most people think that this animal is called an elephant because of this. In fact, their name comes from a fleshy growth on the nose, which resembles a trunk, although the size of such a "trunk" does not exceed 10 centimeters. Females do not have this distinctive feature.
southern elephant seals
In length, the sea elephant can reach 5 meters and weigh up to 2.5 tons. True, females are much smaller - only up to 3 meters, weighing less than a ton. The southern elephant seal differs from other species of seals large quantity subcutaneous fat - more than 35%. The outgrowth on the nose is used as an element during mating battles. The skin of the animal is rough and thick, covered with thick fur. Juveniles are silver-gray, adults are brown.
The habitat of this subspecies is the subantarctic islands and the coast of Patagonia. individuals rarely seen alone, them favourite hobby- form huge rookeries on pebble beaches.
Interesting Facts:
- The southern elephant seal is larger than its northern neighbor - some individuals can reach 4 tons.
- They can stay in the water for a long time - more than 20 minutes. The documented record for an animal being underwater without a break was 2 hours.
- Max Depth, on which animals dive, is almost 1.5 kilometers.
- Most they spend their lives in the ocean. They come out on land during the breeding and molting season, for 3-5 weeks a year.
Females and males differ in the presence of a trunk and weight. At the same time, they have a lot in common: short front fins, a similar body type, a strong rear fin. Around the neck of animals are often observed scars, which they receive in battles during mating.
Features of life
feed on southern elephants crabs, fish and shrimp. Males forage for themselves in the waters of the continental shelf, and females go to the open sea.
Reproduction:
- During the breeding and molting season, southern elephant seals most often arrive at the place where they were born. A few weeks before the females emerge from the water, the males fight for territory. At the same time, each of them must win back and protect a certain haulout for a long time. He goes without food, which makes him emaciated towards the end of the mating period. Therefore, only the strongest alpha males remain, each of which mates with dozens of females.
- Most of the females stay at the rookery pregnant, give birth to offspring here, and after some time after that they are again ready for mating. As a rule, one cub is born. AT rare cases there may be two.
- A newborn southern elephant seal is about a meter long and weighs 25-50 kg. The mother stays with the child for 23 days, after which mating takes place and the cub is weaned. At this time, he already weighs about 120 kg.
- After that, the female goes to the ocean, and the young individuals unite in groups. For several weeks, they live off the use of subcutaneous fat. In the end, they start their journey to the ocean hungry. They learn to swim and find their own food on their own.
- At 3 years, females reach sexual maturity, and by 6 years of age, they participate in the annual mating cycle. Males begin to compete for females only by the age of 10. Pregnancy lasts 11 months, with a life expectancy of about 20 years.
northern elephant seal
This subspecies lives on the west coast of America, where it is considered a tourist attraction. locals they are valued for attracting tourists en masse. Now elephant seals are protected by law. Until recently, they were so massively exterminated that the view is almost gone. It was even thought to be extinct for some time. However, it turned out that only one colony survived, which lived on the Mexican island of Guadeloupe. After the ban on hunting, the number of individuals increased dramatically. Now the rate of increase in the population is up to 15% annually. Today, the species is no longer under serious threat of extinction.
In their nature killer whales and sharks are considered enemies. During the rut, males die from mortal wounds. At the same time a large number of young animals die under the carcasses of adults.
The northern elephant seal differs from the southern one in that sexual dimorphism is less pronounced. However, the trunk of males is larger - it reaches 30 centimeters in length.
The sea elephant is a very interesting animal that refers to seals. The southern subspecies is much larger, since the northern subspecies was exterminated for a long time, which almost led to the complete extinction of the animal. The southern representative of the species is somewhat larger than the northern one and is the largest carnivorous mammals.
Sea elephants (lat. Mirounga) - the genus of the largest predatory mammals from the family of true seals, it owes its name to the long proboscis-shaped nose of males. With the help of this “trunk”, the male gives a signal of danger or reports the conquest of his own harem.
Elephant seals spend most of their lives underwater, feeding on fish and shellfish. They are able to dive to a depth of about 1400 meters, holding their breath for more than two hours. At the same time, their activities internal organs slow down, saving required amount oxygen. Them natural enemies are and, waiting for nosed seals in the upper layers of the water.
Elephant seals come ashore only in the warm season in order to give birth to offspring and conceive a new one. For three whole months, huge colonies fill coastal zones. Two or three dozen females give birth to babies under the auspices of one male.
Fierce battles are fought for harems, in which opponents are capable of inflicting serious wounds on each other. Every year, additional scars appear on the body of the strongest and largest males.
Interestingly, outwardly clumsy and clumsy elephant seals literally change before our eyes during fights. Sometimes they even straighten up in full gigantic growth and, vigorously waving a straightened trunk and back body, make amazing pirouettes.
Young three-four-year-old elephant seals are forced to lead a bachelor lifestyle - they are forced out of the edges of the colony by more mature eight-year-old counterparts. Considering this state of affairs unfair, from time to time they try to break through to "married" females, which leads to new fights.
In the harems, their own is seething family life. Each "wife" gives birth to one cub, about 80 cm long and weighing 20 kg. mother feeds him nutritious milk 4-5 weeks, after which he must take care of himself. After leaving it, he stays on the shore for another month, extracting nutrients from the fat layer. During this period, molting occurs, after which the baby goes on his first voyage.
The female is ready for a new fertilization about a month after giving birth. Her pregnancy will last a long 11 months. Having conceived, she fattens a little in the sea, and then fits into the post-nuptial molt. Mature males are the last to molt.
Interestingly, during this period, animals of all ages relax so much that you can come close to them. The body of the seals resembles a spreading jelly, they absolutely do not pay attention to what is happening around. Having finished their "land" business, elephant seals go to the ocean.
Two species of these mammals are known - these are the northern and southern elephant seals. The former are found on islands along the western coast of North America. They are slightly smaller than their southern relatives. Males weigh 2.7 tons with a body length of almost 5 m. Their trunk reaches 30 cm, which is much larger than that of the "southerners".
Southern elephant seals gather in colonies on subantarctic archipelagos and islands such as Kerguelen, Macquarie, Heard and South Georgia. Individuals are found on the coasts of Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. The weight of the largest males can reach 3.5 tons, and the body length is 6.5 m. The females of both species are half the size of their partners.
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