With the exception of breeding season, elephant seals come
ashore only to shed their skin, a process known as molting.
In late summer, hundreds of seals gather on beaches and wallow in muddy pools
of water. They lie close together while they
gradually shed patches
of hair and skin. Eventually, the old skin is replaced by a new coat
of sleek fur, and the seals
return to the water.
Male elephant seals arrive at breeding beaches a few weeks before the
females to establish territories. The competition among
the males
is fierce: they engage in bloody fights to claim territories where
females are likely to congregate. Shortly
after the females arrive
at the breeding colony, they give birth to single pups conceived in
the previous mating season. The
females are not ready to mate again
until their pups are weaned four weeks later. Many larger males
attempt to mate with
the females too soon after they give birth;
many females are injured, and 10 percent of the pups are killed.
Elephant seals feed primarily on fish and squid. Until
recently, very little was known about their hunting behavior; recent
studies have shown that they make extraordinarily deep dives of over
3000 feet. In this deep water they catch bottom-dwelling
prey.
Although elephant seals have long canine teeth, only the inch-long
tips protrude through the gums. This and their dull
molars make it
difficult for them to on anything but soft-bodied prey.
Originally land animals, elephant seals have adapted to life in the
sea by developing a thick layer of insulating fat, called blubber,
that keeps them warm. The blubber also serves as a reserve store of
food. Elephant seals move gracefully in the water. They propel
themselves with their fins and use their forelimbs to change
direction. On land, they use their forelimbs to move across the
beach.
DID YOU KNOW? |
Male elephant seals are so large that it has been difficult to
find out how much they weigh. Scientists used to cut up dead seals to estimate their weight and found that the skin alone can
weigh up to 250 pounds, the blubber 1450 pounds, the heart 93 pounds, and the head 115 pounds |
Southern elephant seals are known to travel great distances from
their breeding beaches. The longest recorded journey was over 3000 miles |
Elephant seals sleep so soundly on breeding beaches that it is
possible for a person to sit on one without waking it |
The big difference in size between the male and female elephant
seal is thought to be the greatest relative size difference between the sexes of any mammalian species |
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