Elephant seal Totally Explained

Everything about Elephant Seals totally explained

Elephant seals are large, oceangoing mammals in the genus Mirounga, in the earless seal (Phocidae) family. There are two species: the Northern Elephant Seal (M. angustirostris) and the Southern Elephant Seal (M. leonina). Both were hunted to the brink of extinction by the end of the nineteenth century, but numbers have since recovered. The Northern Elephant Seal, somewhat smaller than its southern relative, ranges over the Pacific coast of the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The Southern Elephant Seal is found in the southern hemisphere on islands such as South Georgia, Macquarie Island, and on the coasts of New Zealand, South Africa, and Argentina in the Peninsula Valdés, which is the fourth largest elephant seal colony in the world.

Appearance

Elephant seals take their name from the great size of their bodies and the large proboscis of the adult males (bulls) which resembles an elephant's trunk. The bull's proboscis is used in producing extraordinarily loud roaring noises, especially during the mating season. More importantly, however, the nose acts as a sort of rebreather, filled with cavities designed to reabsorb moisture from the animals' exhalations. This is important during the mating season when the male seals rarely leave the beach to feed, and therefore must conserve body moisture, as they've no incoming source of water. Bulls of both the northern elephant seal and the southern elephant seal reach a length of 18 ft (5.5 m) and a weight of 5,000 lb (2,270 kg), and are much larger than the cows, which typically measure about 10 ft (3 m) and 1,430 lb (650 kg). The largest known bull elephant seal weighed 5000 kg (11,000 lb) and measured 6.9 m (22.5 ft) in length. This makes the elephant seal the largest member of the order Carnivora.

Ecology

Elephant seals spend up to 80 percent of their lives in the ocean. They can hold their breath for over 80 minutes—longer than any other non-cetacean mammal. Furthermore, elephant seals possess the ability to dive to 1500 meters beneath the ocean's surface. The average depth of their dives is about 300 to 600 meters, typically for around 20 min, as they search for their favorite foods, which are skates, rays, squid, octopuses, eels, and small sharks. Their stomachs also often contain gastroliths. While excellent swimmers, they're even more surprising on land, where they've a higher velocity than the average human when moving over sand dunes.The record dive of a Elephant Seal is 5,015ft by a male in 1991.
Elephant seals are shielded from extreme cold by their blubber, more than by fur. The skin on top of this blubber and its hair molts periodically. It has to be re-grown by blood vessels reaching through the blubber. When molting occurs, the seal is susceptible to the cold, and must rest on land, in a safe place called a "haul-out." The type of molt which an elephant seal undergoes is a catastrophic molt. While this is taking place, the bulls actually cease fighting with one another.
Elephant seals have evolved to have a very large volume of blood, allowing them to hold a large amount of oxygen for use when diving. They have large sinuses in their abdomens to hold blood and can also store oxygenated blood in their muscles. In addition they've a larger proportion of oxygen-carrying red blood cells. All these adaptions enable them to dive for periods up to 2 hours.

Lifespan

Female elephant seals have an average life expectancy of about 20 years, and can give birth starting at the age of 3–4. Males reach maturity at five years, but generally don't achieve alpha status until the age of 8, with the prime breeding years being between ages 9 and 12. The average life expectancy of a male elephant seal is 14 years.

Gallery

Image:Seals007.jpg|Elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) on a beach, San Simeon, California Image:Male, female and pup Mirounga angustirostris 10 .jpg Image:Elephant seal colony edit.jpg|Northern Elephant Seals during moulting season near San Simeon, California, USA Further Information

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